AB China – October 2013

CAPITAL HILL INVESTING IN REAL ESTATE IN CHINAOPINION CHINA’S HOMEGROWN TALENT IN DEMANDPEOPLE PROS AND PITFALLS OF TELECOMMUTINGTECHNICAL IMPAIRMENT OF ASSETS

TEAM PLAYER NEUSOFT’S CFO ON THE STRENGTH OF FINANCE

SPONSORSHIP THE BIG FOUR DELVE INTO THE ARTSDIGITAL IQ THE POWER OF TECHNOLOGY

MINING DISCLOSURES ON CONFLICT MINERALS

THE MAGAZINE FOR FINANCE PROFESSIONALS ACCOUNTING AND BUSINESS CHINA 10/2013CN ABCPDGet verifiable cpd units by reading technical articles

YUAN PROSPECTSCHINA’S CURRENCY AT INTERNATIONAL CROSSROADS

TIPPING THE BALANCE

SUPPORT RUNS HIGH FOR INTEGRATED REPORTING

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HOME IS WHERE THE WORK IS Asia has taken its time in warming to the idea of working from home. Seen as a way to keep skyrocketing costs of facilities and space down while meeting the needs of staff, the working from home policy has grown popular in the West. While it hasn’t quite had its moment in Asia, that may be about to change.

According to the 2013 Regus Global Economic Indicator, 48% of business managers now work remotely

for at least half their working week. In mainland China the figure rises to 53%, while Hong Kong is lagging behind at 36%. Anecdotal evidence from recruitment agencies in Asia also suggests that demands for flexible working are on the rise.

Accountancy is said to be one of the professions that lends itself to working from home or ‘telecommuting’. In some respects, accounting-related work is often done independently with deliverables that may not be team-based.

The advantages for staff are obvious: managing your lifestyle, particularly if you have children of school age, and determining how you work. But there are drawbacks; isolation and loss of motivation are both factors, while office-based staff may feel they have to ‘step in’ for employees who are not physically present.

Our article on page 54 provides a rundown of the pros and cons of working from home, as well as offering advice on how to implement a successful telecommuting policy.

Also in this issue, we find out about the challenges of finding talented accountants in our interview with Zhang Xiao’ou, senior vice president and CFO of Neusoft, the largest IT solutions and services provider in China (see page 12). The company’s rapid growth means that his focus is on building an international finance team to support the company’s strategy. What does he look for in staff?

Do get in touch if you have any comments on these or other articles in this issue. I’d be delighted to hear from you.

Colette Steckel, Asia editor, [email protected]

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Welcome

3WELCOME

ACCOUNTING AND BUSINESS

NEWS06 News in pictures A different view of recent headlines

08 News round-up A digest of all the latest news and developments

FOCUS12 Fresh approach Zhang Xiao’ou, Neusoft Group’s senior vice president and CFO, on innovation

16 Yuan goes global How will internationalisation of China’s currency affect investment?

COMMENT20 Errol Oh The best businesses give customers what they want

21 Cesar Bacani China’s companies are keen to recruit locally

22 Martin Turner The new ACCA president looks ahead to the coming year

PRACTICE23 The view from Graham Webb of Hall Chadwick, plus snapshot on corporate finance

24 Philanthropic approach Arts sponsorship is gaining ground in Singapore

Audit period July 2011 to June 2012 148,106

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29 Lincoln’s Inn FieldsLondon, WC2A 3EE, UK+44 (0) 20 7059 5000www.accaglobal.com

AB CHINA EDITIONOCTOBER 2013VOLUME 16 ISSUE 9

Asia editor Colette [email protected] +44 (0)20 7059 5896

Editor-in-chief Chris [email protected] +44 (0)20 7059 5966

International editor Lesley [email protected] +44 (0)20 7059 5965

Sub-editors Loveday Cuming, Dean Gurden, Peter Kernan, Vivienne Riddoch

Design manager Jackie [email protected] +44 (0)20 7059 5620

Designer Robert Mills

Production manager Anthony [email protected]

Advertising Richard [email protected] +44 (0)20 7902 1221

Head of publishing Adam [email protected] +44 (0)20 7059 5601

Printing Times Printers

Pictures Corbis

Editorial board Rosanna Choi, Jimmy Chung, Tracy Ho, Belinda Kwee, Andy Lam, Arthur Lee, Roy Leung, Derek Poon, Anthony Tyen, Fergus Wong, Davy Yun

ACCAPresident Martin Turner FCCADeputy president Anthony Harbinson FCCAVice president Alexandra Chin FCCAChief executive Helen Brand OBE

ACCA ConnectTel +44 (0)141 582 2000Fax +44 (0)141 582 [email protected]@[email protected]

4 CONTENTS


CORPORATE26 The view from Fong Nee Wai FCCA from LCH Investment, plus snapshot on oil and gas

28 Digital partners Collaboration between IT and senior leaders reaps rewards

INSIGHT32 Digging deep US rules on conflict minerals disclosure could affect many Asian businesses 35 Graphics Focus on how entrepreneurs can kick-start economic development 36 Integrated reporting Responses to the IIRC’s discussion paper on its revised conceptual framework

39 Tomorrow’s CFO How to get to the top

42 Careers Dr Rob Yeung, our resident talent doctor, unpacks leadership

44 Operations management A look at the different approaches

46 Walking the talk Networking and presentation tips for the finance function

TECHNICAL47 IASB conceptual framework Understanding its value

49 CPD: IAS 36, Impairment of Assets The standard is scrutinised

52 VAT gathers momentum Systems are becoming more complex

54 China’s real estate The first of a two-part series looks at foreign investors

PEOPLE56 Remote working What are the pros and cons?

ACCA58 News ACCA publishes integrated report; CICPA deputy general attends ACCA roundtable; a range of CPD learning methods are available

62 Integrated reporting Highlights from China’s recent roundtables

64 The view from SSE Shanghai Stock Exchange’s Lin Yongfeng gives his views on IR

66 News ACCA online conference examines challenges; new issue of Accountancy Futures now available

5CONTENTS


CPDReading this magazine to keep up to date contributes to your non-verifiable CPD. Learning something new and applying it in some way contributes to your verifiable CPD, as do the online questions related to certain articles on the technical pages, provided that they are relevant to your development needs.

▼ MORE BIKES FOR BEIJINGIn a bid to reduce air pollution and traffic congestion, Beijing is set to almost double the number of bicycles for rent to 25,000

▼ WEALTHY WON OVERAsia’s rich have fallen in love with French luxury goods group Hermès. Sales in Asia, excluding Japan, grew by 17% in the first half of the year

▼ NO NAPPING FOR IKEAA man rests in an IKEA branch in Shanghai – a common sight in the store. The Swedish company is now the largest foreign commercial landowner in China

▼ SWEET TREATS IN STORESingapore’s first Krispy Kreme outlet is due to open this month. The US chain already has branches in Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand

6 NEWS | PICTURES


▲ CONVENTION COLLABORATIONChinese tax commissioner Wang Jun (L) and OECD secretary general Angel Gurría attended a ceremony in Paris where China signed the OECD’s Multilateral Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters

▲ GLOBAL PLATFORMChina’s State Council has approved the establishment of a pilot free trade zone in Shanghai. The zone will help foster China’s global competitiveness and serve as a new platform for cooperation with other countries

► PLASTIC FANTASTICDanish toymaker Lego plans to open a factory in China to supply increasing Asian demand. Sales in Asia are growing by over 50% annually

7PICTURES | NEWS


Its aim is to strengthen monetary and financial policy coordination, and help regulators deal with financial crises. Analysts believe its creation might speed reforms across the financial sector, among them bank deposit insurance, a key step in China’s plans to liberalise bank interest rates and boost competition in the banking sector.

REFORMS FLAGGED Financial reforms are expected to be deepened as business builds in the forthcoming Shanghai Free Trade Zone. Lian Ping, chief economist at China’s Bank of Communications, said

EY TAKES MAKEFor the sixth consecutive year, EY has been recognised as a Most Admired Knowledge Enterprise (MAKE) in Hong Kong. Judged by a panel of senior business executives and knowledge management experts, the MAKE Awards celebrate organisations that transform intellectual capital into superior products, services and solutions. Brigitte Ireland, EY Asia Pacific knowledge leader, said: ‘At EY, our aim is simply to make the best use of everything we know and everything we’ve done, so we can serve our clients better.’

FINANCIAL FLAWSA survey by Singapore’s Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority and ACCA has found deficiencies in the financial reporting practices of Singaporean companies. The findings suggest companies ‘need to firmly take ownership of financial reporting and put greater emphasis on developing the resources needed for effective financial reporting’. Frequent changes and the increased complexity of financial reporting standards were also found to pose a major challenge to some financial preparers, highlighting ‘the benefits of employing qualified accountants’.

CHINA COORDINATORBeijing’s announcement of a new agency to coordinate financial supervision will strengthen the power of the central bank, while leaving existing watchdogs intact.

he expects reforms in the capital account to allow freer flow of funds into the free trade zone. Wang Xinkui, director of the Shanghai municipality’s advisory department, agreed. ‘The gradual opening of capital account is most important. If capital could not flow in and out, it would be very difficult,’ he said.

GRANTS UP FOR GRABSA new working group will seek views on how to support Singapore’s small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). A key focus will be on streamlining the grants and schemes that businesses can tap into.

MAINSTREAM SUKUKA recent briefing note by the Clifford Chance law firm highlights recent developments in Hong Kong to encourage the development of a sukuk market. In July 2013 an amendment was gazetted, harmonising the tax treatment for Islamic securities and conventional debt securities. Clifford Chance noted: ‘It is hoped that the development of a sukuk market will help to reinforce Hong Kong’s position as an international financial centre by widening its spectrum of financial products and range of market participants.’

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News round-upThis month’s stories include Singaporean reporting deficiencies, Hong Kong’s sukuk stimulus, the emerging market currency rout, and China completing the tax evasion front

INNOVATION AT THE HEART OF COMPETITIVENESSExcellent innovation and strong institutional environments are increasingly key drivers of competitiveness for national economies, according to the World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Report 2013-14, which ranks 148 nations.

RANK 2Singapore

RANK 7Hong Kong

RANK 9Japan

RANK 24Malaysia

RANK 38Indonesia

RANK 139Myanmar

8 NEWS | ROUND-UP


CURRENCIES DOWNAfter downgrading its forecasts for three currencies in the region, Goldman Sachs said it expected the rout in Asian emerging market currencies to continue. The US investment bank revised down its three, six and 12-month targets for the Malaysian ringgit, Thai baht and Indonesian rupiah. ‘The market sell-off has its roots in deteriorating underlying fundamental flows, and in particular the weakening broad balance of payments led by current account deterioration in recent quarters,’ the bank said.

PwC BOOSTS NUMBERSPwC has appointed 32 new partners across its firms in mainland China (13), Hong Kong (eight), Singapore (six) and Taiwan (five), bringing the total number of partners in the four regions to over 690. Of the new partners 17 are with the assurance practice, eight in tax, and seven in advisory, and 13 are female. ‘I’m proud to see these exceptional professionals achieve this significant career milestone and look forward to their continued contribution to PwC,’ said Simon Tsang, PwC human capital leader for China, Hong Kong, Singapore and Taiwan.

BIG ON MICEMalaysia is intent on gaining a bigger share of the meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions (MICE) pie. Several programmes have been announced to attract business groups, part of the bigger agenda to position Malaysia as Asia’s business events hub. The aim of the country’s progressive Economic Transformation Programme is to grow business tourism arrivals in

the country to 8% (from the current 5%) – an increase from 1.2 million to 2.9 million business visitors by 2020.

RISK REFORMThe China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC) will let banks use their own internal standards to measure regulatory capital as a way of improving risk management and market discipline among local lenders. Under the rules, banks applying to use internal ratings-based approaches must have at least 50% of their total assets covered by these standards at the time of application. Within three years of approval, coverage should extend to 80% of total assets.

STANDARD MOOTEDThe Malaysian Accounting Standards Board has published revised proposals for private entity reporting in Malaysia. The plans remain based on IFRS for SMEs, but make some amendments for the Malaysian context. If approved, all private entities would be required to apply a single financial reporting framework on 1 January 2016. The new set of national accounting standards for private entities would be ‘closely aligned’ to the IFRS for SMEs issued by the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB).

CLOSER TIESHong Kong and Malaysia are cooperating to promote financial market development in both countries. The Hong Kong Monetary Authority and Bank Negara Malaysia met in August and agreed to make collaborative arrangements to deepen trade and investment linkages. The joint efforts

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PLANET FOLLYWWF says the resources of 2.6 Earths would be needed if the whole world lived a Hong Kong lifestyle. Hong Kong’s ecological footprint is twice the size of mainland China’s.

BIG FOUR SHAKE-UPThe Chinese Institute of CPAs’ ranking of the top 100 CPA firms in China sees Ruihua (the firm formed by the merger of Crowe Horwath and RSM) placing third, knocking KPMG out of its accustomed Big Four spot.

will cover, among others, offshore renminbi business development and the internationalisation of Islamic finance.

REVENUE RECOGNITIONAs the IASB and the Financial Accounting

Standards Board (FASB) prepare to release final global revenue recognition changes, Grant Thornton International Business Report research has found that only 38% of respondents believe existing accounting standards on »

¥3,226m PwC

¥3,045m Deloitte

¥2,236m EY

¥1,774m BDO Shu Lun Pan

¥1,366m Daxin

¥2,136m KPMG

Pan China

Shinewing

Dahua

¥2,437m Ruihua

¥1,105m

¥1,041m

¥1,008m

9ROUND-UP | NEWS


‘TOO BIG TO FAIL’ INITIATIVE GETS RENEWED BACKING FROM G20 Global leaders at September’s G20 meeting in St Petersburg in Russia endorsed the efforts of the Financial Stability Board (FSB) to ensure the major crashes that sparked the financial crisis never happen again.

In a report prepared for the summit, Mark Carney, who chairs the FSB and is governor of the Bank of England, said good progress had been made on the FSB’s ambitious ‘too big to fail’ initiative, which he described as essential for a more robust, competitive and fair financial system – but that more needed to be done.

The G20 leaders agreed and renewed their commitment to ‘make any necessary reforms’ to drive

through the FSB’s key recommendations, which include undertaking ‘the necessary actions to remove obstacles to cross-border resolution, taking into account country-specific circumstances’.

Russian president Vladimir Putin told the summit that a return to economic crisis could not be ruled out, as world leaders had not yet resolved the problem of returning the world economy towards steady and balanced growth.

included insufficiently rigorous evaluations of the impact of control deficiencies and insufficient evidence of revenues in a number of audits.

GROWTH PROSPECTS Indonesia is the most attractive country in the ASEAN region for business expansion, followed by Vietnam, Thailand and Myanmar, according to a survey of 475 representatives of US companies in 10 ASEAN countries for the American Chamber of Commerce’s 2014 ASEAN Business Outlook. More than half (63%) the respondents reported a growing contribution by ASEAN markets to their companies’ worldwide revenues over

the past two years, while almost three-quarters (73%) expected it to rise over the next two years.

UNITED ON EVASIONChina has become the final G20 nation to join international efforts to end tax evasion after signing the multilateral convention in August. The convention now has 56 signatories and endorses the automatic exchange of information as the new global standard. OECD secretary general Angel Gurría said it represented ‘another important step in strengthening collaboration between China and the OECD and in fighting international tax evasion and avoidance’. ■

issued an inaugural US$490m sukuk. The three-month Islamic bonds offer highly rated, tradable and Shariah-compliant financial instruments, helping institutions offering Islamic financial services to manage their liquidity more effectively and efficiently.

KPMG/PwC CRITICISEDKPMG and PwC have been criticised by the US Public Companies Accounting Oversight Board for audit failures in the latest releases of its audit inspection reports. While the majority of both firms’ audits were not criticised, PwC’s failures included insufficient checks on revenue accuracy and on stock and other asset valuations. KPMG’s failures

revenue recognition need improving or replacing. A majority also thought that the latest joint proposals would increase costs (50% vs 33%) and complexity (46% vs 36%); only 38% were aware of the upcoming changes. ‘Some may argue that current standards aren’t broken, but we think there are serious problems,’ said Grant Thornton global CEO Ed Nusbaum.

ISLAMIC BOND DEBUTA consortium of central banks from Asia, the Middle East and Africa has moved towards developing a cross-border market in Islamic financial instruments after the Malaysia-based International Islamic Liquidity Management

▲ 20/20 VISIONG20 leaders in front of St Petersburg’s Constantine Palace

10 NEWS | ROUND-UP


1308016_T20_03/09/2013-PDF_upload

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BRANCHING OUTAn innovative, devolved finance function model is key to Neusoft Group’s ambitious strategy for growth, explains senior vice president and CFO Zhang Xiao’ou

Born in 1972, Zhang Xiao’ou is a senior certified public accountant

with an MBA from Northeastern University, China and an EMBA

from the China Europe International Business School. He joined Neusoft Group

as financial director in 2000, becoming senior vice president and financial operating officer in 2008 and senior vice president and CFO in 2012.

‘New era’Today, Zhang has two main roles. One is to continually optimise the company’s risk-control system; the other is to strengthen the creation of an international financial management team. ‘Neusoft is growing very fast, and the number of personnel and scale of the company doubles every three to five years,’ he explains. ‘Today the company has over 23,000 employees – 10 times more than there were a decade ago. We therefore have to adapt our management procedures and framework accordingly.

‘In this new era, some of the experience that made us successful in the past could turn into a bottleneck holding back the company. But we’re continually optimising, continually innovating and continually challenging ourselves as we effectively solve the problems facing us.’

The difficulty of financially managing a software company lies in issues that cannot be controlled, encountered or seen. Dividing the creation of products into stages or steps is not easy, and it can be hard to distinguish the quality, effectiveness and results of software engineers’ work. This also increases the complexity of financial management.

Management of software companies is often carried out through a matrix structure, vertically covering regions and horizontally covering industries. This means that too much

Zhang Xiao’ou has enjoyed a meteoric rise in his career. Now senior vice president and CFO at IT solutions and service provider Neusoft Group, he was the youngest financial executive in a listed

company after joining predecessor Neu-Alpine in 2000. Things got off to a slow start, however. ‘Neu-Alpine

was a medium-sized enterprise with more than 2,000 employees and I was hired due to a joint venture between Neu-Alpine and a Taiwanese company,’ he recalls. ‘When I arrived, though, the joint venture had yet to go into operation, so the only work for me to do was basic, such as stapling vouchers.’

Zhang used this time well. ‘My manager asked me to do a routine summary and analysis of company data,’ he says. ‘I worked at it from a number of angles, such as concept and layout, to completely redo a routine report. This not only gained me the approval of the CFO but also praise from other leaders in the company. Three months later, Neusoft Group sent me to a newly formed company in Chongqing to take up the position of financial director.’

When Neusoft Group bought eAbax it was a private enterprise and nepotism was a serious problem, particularly when it came to financial issues. At the time there were 500 people working at eAbax which had 10 subsidiaries, making the business of financial management highly complex.

‘When controlling an enterprise, getting the financial work right is absolutely critical,’ says Zhang. ‘My first job was to let go of all the financial personnel in the subsidiaries. After that, I hired new, genuinely talented financial staff and I started refining the company’s financial management system.’

Zhang has also stayed true to his belief in continuous learning. ‘After finishing my bachelor’s, I studied for a master’s degree. I also took the CPA exam and several other qualifications, after which I did an Executive MBA (EMBA) at the China Europe International Business School. If you want to be successful, you have to work hard – but you also have to keep studying. Throughout my whole career I’ve always continued to learn. To this day, I still make sure I attend classes every week.’

CV

▌▌▌’THROUGHOUT MY WHOLE CAREER I’VE ALWAYS CONTINUED TO LEARN. TO THIS DAY, I STILL MAKE SURE I ATTEND CLASSES EVERY WEEK’

12 FOCUS | INTERVIEW


13INTERVIEW | FOCUS


and to build a development model that is suitable for us. The financial department, meanwhile, needs to devote more resources to serving and supporting the company’s strategy and direction of development.’

ACCA inputCreating an international financial management team involves both introducing a large amount of international talent while enhancing the international ability of internal personnel. To achieve this, Neusoft is working with ACCA, with study for the Qualification a requirement for all members of the international finance team.

ACCA is, says Zhang, enabling Neusoft to optimise its finance techniques and management methods. ‘In the future, we’ll also continue to strengthen our cooperation with ACCA,’ he adds.

ACCA also offers an excellent training opportunity for Neusoft’s internal finance personnel, who are all encouraged to study for the Qualification. ‘ACCA’s exams are done in English, which will also help improve their language ability,’ says Zhang. ‘Since we started organising classes in 2012, more than 20 people have taken part each semester. ACCA has brought changes to the financial management team. It has improved the team’s linguistic ability, as well as changing their mentality and the way they think.’

Zhang believes that to stay competitive, young people must hold qualifications that others don’t. ‘Taking the ACCA Qualification is a reflection of their skill, dedication, patience and ability,’ he says. ‘It will also be clear to their manager that they are a hard-working and dependable employee. This is an essential part of the road to success.’ ■

Yu Yue, journalist

centralised power lies in the hands of the headquarters, which is not conducive to encouraging low-level employees to use their initiative. To tackle this, Neusoft’s head office has gradually delegated its authority.

‘Head office has begun to promote financial budgeting, accounting and auditing for second- and third-level departments as well as even smaller project departments,’ Zhang explains. ‘Some level-one units have even been made into “virtual” companies that do these things by themselves. Each operating unit has gradually become more independent. There has also been more precise division of responsibilities and the internal management of head office has become more clear-cut.

‘In the future, Neusoft Group’s international business will make up more than 60% of our total income,’ he continues. ‘More than 50% of our total income will originate from software products and services, and we will achieve a more than 500% increase in our sales income over the next seven years. Our aim is to continually innovate and transform,

Neusoft Group was established in 1991 and has become one of China’s largest IT solutions and services providers. It has more than 23,000 employees globally, and has set up six research and development bases and eight regional headquarters in China, as well as building up a sales and service network covering more than 40 cities around the country. The company also has subsidiaries in North America, Japan, Europe and the Middle East.

Focusing on software technology, Neusoft’s products have been installed in 32 provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions in China and in 60 countries and regions around the world, including the US, Italy, Russia, Brazil, the Middle East and Africa. BA

SICS

▌▌▌’OUR AIM IS TO CONTINUALLY INNOVATE AND TRANSFORM, AND TO BUILD A DEVELOPMENT MODEL THAT IS SUITABLE FOR US’

14 FOCUS | INTERVIEW


THE LONG ROAD TO CONVERTIBILITYEconomic reform is just around the corner, spearheaded by enthusiastic new president Xi Jinping. But will internationalising China’s currency be a push or pull factor for investors?

with the liberalisation of the country’s capital account and loosening of interest rate controls being two anticipated key measures, according to local academics and economic pundits. Policy makers in Beijing will be hoping that an opening of the capital account will make it easier for investors to move money into China, and enable Chinese firms to make investments overseas.

Yet recent Chinese administrations have also been worried about making the national currency convertible because they fear the yuan would appreciate as a result and that could mean less foreign investment in China, leading to deflation, lower wages and unemployment. These fears are compounded by the worries that a

higher yuan will stifle exports, diminishing China’s supply of dollars needed for investment. But on the plus side, the current government promises to shift the economy away from a reliance on exports to a more consumer-driven economy (which would benefit from spending power created by a stronger CNY).

New president Xi Jinping is seen by many as a bolder reformer than his predecessor, but Chinese officials have taken a very cautious approach to internationalisation of the yuan. ‘There are concerns over outflows of currency and there is much concern about stability of the financial system if convertibility is attempted too hastily,’ according to Professor Chen Yulu, a professor of finance at the prestigious Renmin University in Beijing.

A much anticipated meeting of the Chinese leadership in October may offer the clearest timetable yet for the internationalisation of China’s currency, the Chinese yuan (CNY).

Full convertibility of the Chinese currency is a stated goal of government but progress has sometimes been slow, though suggestions from economists in Beijing indicate the currency may be fully convertible by 2017.

In any case, the third plenum of the 18th Central Committee of the Communist Party Congress in October

is expected to yield a blueprint for economic reform for the coming decade,

16 FOCUS | CURRENCY CONVERSION


Officials in China have watched in recent months how funds have been pulled from China as the US Federal Reserve starts tightening its monetary stance. The ‘tapering’ off of quantitative easing shows how funds, which had been banked on a continued appreciation of the yuan (and Chinese equities), can similarly become an exodus.

Meanwhile, Chinese companies have been preparing for an eventual full convertibility. ‘The basic effect of a fully convertible currency will be a reduction of import costs and an increase in export costs,’ explained accountant Russell Brown, head of China-based accounting and advisory firm Lehman Brown. ‘It’s more difficult to decipher the effect in China’s case because many of its export goods have a percentage of imported goods.’

Exchange rate flexibility and a more independent monetary policy, (China’s central bank, the People’s Bank of China (PBC), is not independent of the government), will help China’s economy ‘cope better with macroeconomic shocks’, added Brown. As he sees it, China is at a crossroads.

A steady, controlled appreciation of the yuan in recent years has made it an attractive currency to hold: in the past decade – excluding a period between 2008 and 2010, when the currency was effectively

frozen – the CNY has appreciated an average 7% a year in value against the US dollar.

Business, meanwhile, is largely positive about the prospects of CNY convertibility. David Chu, who heads ShineWing Hall Chadwick, (the Australian offices of China-based ShineWing Certified Public Accountants), said investors are keen to enter the Chinese market but are put off by the bureaucratic process of converting currency. ‘There’s a great deal of synergy between many Australian firms with technology suited for China, and they have potential Chinese partners with a great market. But they look at a process of approval and transfer of working

capital, which can take up to nine months and more… and they’re turned off and look elsewhere for opportunities.’

Chu expects business for financial services providers such as his firm to pick up with CNY convertibility: ‘A lot of Chinese companies are looking to invest in Australia but because of currency-exchange controls, small firms especially are not able to invest because they can’t get currency out easily.’

And that major concern of China’s officials – capital outflow – is unlikely, say business experts. While

it is widely agreed that China has already lost US$2.5 trillion over the past decade in illicit outflows, it is also true that inflows have been equally dramatic. ‘While full convertibility will inevitably affect the value of the CNY, China’s capital

flows have less to do with the valuation of the currency and more to do with other monetary policies, and confidence in the stability and sustainability of the economy and country,’ argued Brown.

While various pundits here have offered different dates for full convertibility (some suggesting 2015, others 2017), it is clear that the process thus far has been piecemeal and a series of trial and error reforms allowing exposure to the yuan by chosen countries and corporate investors.

Trying to manage inflows of foreign exchange – which threatened to create inflationary credit bubbles in China’s centralised economy – has long been a driver of »

▌▌▌THE CURRENT GOVERNMENT PROMISES TO SHIFT THE ECONOMY AWAY FROM A RELIANCE ON EXPORTS TO BEING MORE CONSUMER-DRIVEN

▲ RETAIL INJECTIONEconomic changes are likely to fuel a consumer revolution in China

17CURRENCY CONVERSION | FOCUS


A senior trade official at the embassy of a European Union (EU) member state in Beijing believes foreign corporations are sufficiently prepared for CNY convertibility. ‘Internationalising the currency is part of a whole raft of things they have to get on top of. There’s the whole issue of interest rate liberalisation.’ Rather than appreciating or depreciating the yuan based on an interest rate (or floating freely on the open market), Beijing’s fixed exchange rate regime is supplemented by government-managed levers such as reserve requirements for banks – thus managing the amount of currency in the economy.

‘There’s a whole mindset to be gotten over here, which will mean giving real independence to the central bank, and that’ll be new for China,’ explained the diplomat.

His words are echoed by Renmin University’s Chen Yulu: ‘The opening of China’s capital account is not a separate issue… but interrelated with reform of the domestic economy and financial system… and should proceed in coordination with interest rate reform and reform on managing exchange reserves… only in this way can China realise the goal of capital account opening without impacting economic stability.’

The risk inherent in moving to a fully convertible currency may, however, be repaid in the economic benefits that will result. A freely convertible currency will indeed mean businesses will not have to go through the long process of approvals from SAFE. ‘Any bank will be able to handle a transaction of currency exchange or shifting funds into and out of China,’ explained ShineWing Hall Chadwick’s Chu.

However, he said he is expecting the process of internationalisation to take a long time. ‘The government is now allowing direct conversion to Australian dollars [rather than first to US dollars], and this is a big plus – especially for mining companies, which are dealing with large sums at a time… even if it’s only 0.1% or 0.01% saved each time, that’s a considerable sum in the context of a major trade relationship.’ ■

Mark Godfrey, journalist

government efforts to internationalise the CNY. China’s exporters’ earnings from bumper exports have to be converted back into CNY to be spent in China. But if the yuan is convertible and thus accepted globally, it could circulate outside China, easing inflationary pressures on domestic liquidity.

While many have argued that steps in the direction of liberalisation by the PBC have been short-term fixes for an excess of foreign exchange, the evidence seems to suggest a long-term commitment to full convertibility.

One of those measures, the Qualified Domestic Institutional Investor programme, started in 2004, allows approved Chinese financial firms to invest money abroad; it is regulated by the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE). Invested amounts soared from $10bn to $30bn in three years, although the financial crisis dented the appetite of Chinese programme quota holders, who were worried about bad returns from foreign investments.

Piloting viabilityMore significantly, currency-swap agreements with chosen countries and a promise of trade settlement with fellow BRIC countries also helped China’s policymakers to test the advisability of currency convertibility. While a pilot for trade settlement in local currency has proven successful, the use of Hong Kong as a test centre for CNY use by foreign corporations has perhaps been the most significant step on the painstaking road to full convertibility.

The Chinese yuan had long been pegged to the US dollar at CNY2.46 per $1, being raised in value in the wake of the Cultural Revolution from 1972 to 1980, to CNY1.50 in 1980. The government then changed tack and reduced the yuan’s value to boost currency to CNY8.62 by 1994.

Since 2005, the CNY exchange rate has been allowed to float in a narrow margin around a fixed base rate determined by China’s central bank around a basket of world currencies. However, having in 2005 given into pressure from Washington to unpeg from the dollar and allow its currency to appreciate, China ‘re-pegged’ its currency to the dollar in 2008 (until 2010) in the midst of the financial crisis, when it hovered between CNY6.81 and CNY6.83. It is now (as at 3 September) CNY6.12.

EVOLUTION OF CNY’S VALUE

18 FOCUS | CURRENCY CONVERSION


Give them what they wantA convention that began from scratch in 1970 is a shining example of how success comes simply from engaging with your customers and understanding their needs, says Errol Oh

Maybe people should stop calling Comic-Con International in San Diego a geek fest. It’s a dismissive and inadequate label when you consider that during the few days every year that the show is held, it dominates the world’s showbiz headlines.

An article on MovieWeb, an entertainment website, says this year’s instalment of Comic-Con in July was ‘nothing if not a cavalcade of breaking news stories every five seconds’.

The show began more than four decades ago as a comic book convention, but has grown well beyond that. Today it is more a centre of pop culture. That’s a fair description of a major platform for movie and TV studios to reach out to the media, fans and audience. If you want to generate maximum buzz about a film or series, you make it a point to offer something exclusive at Comic-Con.

In addition, it’s a focal point for animation, games, science fiction, fantasy and horror… Yes, this is the stuff that geeks love, but that alone does not explain why Comic-Con has drawn an annual sell-out crowd of 130,000 in recent times, and gets the global attention that any convention organiser would gladly give his right arm to have.

The fact is, the show is a huge success simply because it’s the ideal medium for certain industries to engage with their most committed and influential customers. And that makes Comic-Con itself a business triumph.

According to the San Diego Convention Center Corporation (SDCCC), which runs the show’s main venue, Comic-Con has for years been the top economic generator among the dozens of

One may imagine that Comic-Con is driven by a band of entrepreneurial and marketing geniuses. That does not seem to be the case, and it certainly was not so at the beginning. The roots of Comic-Con go back to a one-day event in March 1970 called San Diego’s Golden State Comic-Minicon; about 100 people turned up. A group of fans of comics, movies and science fiction put it together to collect money and drum up interest for a larger convention.

The first incarnation of Comic-Con was the three-day San Diego’s Golden State Comic-Con in August the same year. It had more than 300 attendees.

‘From the beginning, the founders of the show set out to include not only the comic books they loved, but also other aspects of the popular arts that they enjoyed and felt deserved wider recognition, including films and science fiction/fantasy literature,’ says

the Comic-Con website.That appears to

still be the guiding principle. The show is presented by a non-profit educational corporation ‘dedicated to creating awareness of, and appreciation for, comics and related popular artforms, primarily through the presentation of

conventions and events that celebrate the historic

and ongoing contribution of comics to art and culture’.

Cynics may argue that Comic-Con has transformed into a Hollywood showcase, but the truth is, the show works

only if it matches the passion and expectation of fans. After all, that is how business is – the best are those

who understand what the customers want and provide exactly that. ■

Errol Oh is executive editor of The Star

conventions hosted by the Californian city. It estimated Comic-Con 2013 would inject $175.4m into the local economy. Back in October 2010, when confirming that Comic-Con would remain at the San Diego Convention Center until 2015, the SDCCC estimated the show’s economic impact between 2013 and 2015 would be close to $500m.

San Diego fought hard to win that decision for Comic-Con to stay put, as it had faced competition from Anaheim and Los Angeles. A pivotal factor was the venue expansion plan to cope with Comic-Con’s growing needs. Last October, the city’s mayor announced the Comic-Con commitment has been extended to 2016, allowing more time to obtain financing for the expansion.

20 COMMENT | ERROL OH


China’s homegrown talent is top askThe finance talent pool in mainland China remains shallow, but companies are increasingly revealing that they prefer to employ local professionals over expats, reports Cesar Bacani

I’ve been hearing about the very tight market for finance talent in China for more than a decade now. But with the current restructuring of the economy and the economic slowdown there, I had assumed that multinational corporations and local companies are having an easier time recruiting and retaining CFOs, finance controllers, treasurers and other finance professionals.

No such luck, apparently. ‘It’s still a very tight market and pretty competitive,’ Shanghai-based Simon Lance recently told me. He should know – Lance is regional director, China, for Hays, a leading global specialist recruitment group. Some parts of the labour market may be easing, he conceded, but not the technical and senior levels in finance.

You would think that a nation of 1.3 billion people would have more than enough finance professionals to go around. But remember, China has undergone political upheavals that have held back its soft infrastructure. Things are stabilising. Last year, China’s universities produced 6.8 million graduates – that’s nearly the entire population of Hong Kong.

But, of course, they are all too green. What enterprises desire is a combination of technical, soft, cultural and people management skills, as well as language and alignment with the company’s values. ‘A lot of [mainland] Chinese candidates haven’t yet come to the level in foreign companies,’ said Lance. ‘There’s still a bit of a transition happening in bridging the two worlds of Western management and Chinese local culture.’

He thinks it’s only a matter of time, though. ‘There’s a really good wave of finance professionals in junior to mid-level ranks,’ said Lance. ‘I think over the next five to ten years, they will develop into

but there is a strong preference to find Chinese local candidates.’

For expats, ‘it should be a long-term commitment’, he added. ‘They must realise that employers in China are no longer looking for a one- or two-year secondment for an individual. They are looking for people that see their careers in China.’ Candidates from Hong Kong and Singapore have a ‘fantastic advantage’ in possessing language and cultural attributes close to China’s. ‘But they still need to be committing to the longer term.’

Other things have not changed. I’ve always thought that the long-term solution in China is for firms to undertake a serious professional development programme for their staff, and avoid poaching other firms’

talent. That’s not happening.‘China is a fairly impatient

recruitment market, so domestic firm or multinational, the preference and the need is

to find someone that already has the

[required] skill set,’ said Lance. ‘People are looking for the

perfect short-term solution.’Happily, finance professionals

themselves are showing restraint. In the five years to 2011, Hays found

that many candidates had moved two or three times very quickly, and were looking to do so again. ‘Not any more,’ said Lance. ‘I think candidates are aware that they need to establish themselves and demonstrate a longer-term commitment, particularly at the senior level, if they’re going to progress.’In China, as elsewhere, candidates

need to demonstrate that they have managed finance ably throughout

the whole business cycle – good times, bad times and in-between. ■

Cesar Bacani is editor-in-chief of CFO Innovation Asia

the senior roles’ – and presumably ease the current crunch.

It was interesting for me to learn that enterprises in China have apparently now decided that local is totally best. Not too long ago, you’d find Western expats, and eventually Hong Kong and Singapore finance professionals, at the top in finance, in part because headquarters did not fully trust local managers.

That’s changed. ‘By and large we have more interest from our clients in identifying Chinese nationals,’ Lance told me. ‘Where that is not possible, we expand our search to Hong Kong and Singapore, and even expats [in the West],

21CESAR BACANI | COMMENT


Three pathways for progressDelivery of ACCA’s strategic priorities, promoting an ethical profession and championing corporate reporting leadership are key for new ACCA president Martin Turner FCCA

It is a great honour and immense privilege to have been elected as your president at ACCA’s AGM in September.

I am very excited about the year ahead and, in particular, I am delighted that my Council colleagues and I will be able to meet members, students, employers, tuition providers and regulators at our Council meeting in Dubai next year. The meeting will not only give us an opportunity to see at first hand one of the most important and increasingly influential markets in the UAE but also to visit Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Oman, where we have thousands of members and students.

On behalf of ACCA members, my key priorities for 2013/14 will be the delivery and development of ACCA’s strategy to 2015 and 2020, promoting an ethical profession and championing leadership in corporate reporting.

The first of these is critical and we’ll be listening carefully to members’ views on the issues we need to address.

The focus on ethics is not only because doing the right thing is central to ACCA’s core message of public value, but also because it is a vital part of our qualification framework and more relevant than ever.

In terms of championing leadership in corporate reporting, I want to continue to build on the good work ACCA does in global standards. We want to see the adoption of consistent global standards since they are needed for economic and financial certainty – to help build and maintain investor confidence and trust.

From experience, I know how important ACCA is to helping forge careers and providing support and services to members. I have been an ACCA member since 1976, and have sat on Council since 2004. My career has been in the health sector. I was a founder member and president of the Health Service Society of Certified Accountants more than 25 years ago. I have sat on ACCA’s Market Oversight Committee, Governance Committee and Remuneration Committee. I have been chief executive of regional health services in the UK and Australia. I now work as a management consultant in the UK health sector and am FD of a private health company in the UK.

I look forward to meeting as many members as possible during the coming year and am proud to have the opportunity to serve as your president. ■

Martin Turner FCCA is a management consultant in the UK health sector

22 COMMENT | MARTIN TURNER


The professional services market in Australia is undergoing significant change. The global financial crisis may not have initially impacted Australia as much as other countries, although we’re now seeing knock-on effects in some parts of the economy.

From the profession’s perspective, the largest companies have been understandably looking at their overheads and cost profile, and while audit fees represent a sizeable proportion of revenue, there are increasingly wins to be had on added-value services.

Today, many of the Big Four firms are seeking to reclaim some of those large client accounts while smaller firms continue to undercut, resulting in second-tier firms being squeezed from either side.

That makes it increasingly important for firms in that space to be more proactive in terms of inhabiting their clients’ world, anticipating their needs and playing a leadership role in coming up with solutions that help their clients stay ahead of the game or regain their competitive edge.

China represents an opportunity, not a threat. There are huge positives to draw from the increasingly close business and economic ties between Australia and China. We’ve been developing and formalising links with a leading Chinese independent firm, a relationship that effectively allies us to more than 80 overseas branches and has created many opportunities for collaborating on joint projects.

We’ve introduced a secondment programme that involves staff exchanges, which has been received

‘ THERE ARE HUGE POSITIVES TO DRAW FROM CLOSER BUSINESS AND ECONOMIC TIES’ GRAHAM WEBB FCCA, PARTNER, HALL CHADWICK, SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA

well – there has been no shortage of volunteers. People recognise the value of gaining exposure to international challenges on top of mainstream accounting work closer to home.

Competition for talent is fierce – good people will always be scooped up.

To a certain extent, people can still cherrypick the best positions, although firms are being more proactive with regard to talent retention. Most forward-thinking firms want to provide incentives to stay, with initiatives such as greater emphasis on career progression.

It’s still very much the case that people who qualify will be tempted by moves into industry. It’s up to firms to identify those who show partnership potential and help them to map out a challenging but attainable career path to get them there.

It’s important to make yourself aware of all your career options before leaving the profession. It’s easy to think that the grass is always greener on the other side, but today the profession offers many more diverse career paths.

Yes, the packages on offer in industry – the pay, the company car, the fringe benefits – can be tempting. But in the last two or three years I’ve noticed more people coming back. They haven’t necessarily made the wrong choice, as the experience and insight they’ve gained can be tremendously useful in client-facing roles. It’s more that they’ve found the challenge isn’t as varied. When you have a portfolio of clients, the challenges are many and wide-ranging. ■

SNAPSHOT:CORPORATE FINANCEAccountants in the corporate finance field have clients of all sizes that need an adviser who can make deals – whatever they are – work.

Randstad’s Sinisa Perkovic, says: ‘Corporate finance in Hong Kong has seen some activity across the board, yet it is mainly focused on increased M&A activity in China.’

She adds that accountants aiming for such roles often come from a reputable investment bank or related legal/advisory environment. ‘Applicants should have strong skills in research, financial analysis, modelling and evaluation relating to completion and execution of corporate finance transactions, with MBA/CFA/CPA strongly preferred.’

Meanwhile, in Singapore, Randstad’s Chai Leng Lim, senior consultant for banking and financial services, says: ‘The corporate finance sector usually hires fresh accounting graduates from local universities or MBAs from top tier universities.’

US$72.9bnM&A in Asia Pacific dropped to US$72.9bn in Q1 2013, a decline of 26.1% by value from Q1 2012, according to the latest report from Mergermarket, Mainland China & Hong Kong M&A Round-up.

The view from

23PRACTICE | SECTOR


A win-win endeavourArt sponsorship is beginning to take off among Singapore’s big accountancy firms, offering benefits not just for creative talent but for corporates and community, too

towards helping them enrich the lives of the underprivileged whom they serve. As a business benefit, EY is provided with a platform for its clients and employees, as well as the public, to network over a meaningful endeavour and appreciate the vibrant art scene in South-East Asia.

Taking the stageFor the first time Deloitte is also getting involved in the Singapore art scene. Deloitte Singapore will be the official corporate partner for the Shakespeare’s Globe production of The Taming of the Shrew, staged in Singapore this month.

‘Shakespeare’s Globe has been actively involved in providing special needs students with education and life skills for the workplace, and this is very much aligned to Deloitte’s corporate responsibility to support youth and education causes,’ says Philip Yuen, CEO at Deloitte Singapore.

Another first for Deloitte Singapore is a photography fundraising exhibition, which will take place in November. This will feature photos taken by its staff which will then be auctioned.

The sponsorship of these two

art events comes under Deloitte Singapore’s Corporate Responsibility (CR) programme. ‘Every year, we make an effort to carefully select a few meaningful CR projects that will not only make a positive impact in our local communities but also enable our people to develop their non-professional skills and talents while benefiting underserved youths,’ adds Yuen.

However, sponsorship of the arts competes with many other causes that may rank higher in terms of social needs. And for corporate sponsorship,

While art sponsorship is a well-established practice in Western markets, it is relatively new in Asia. Now, however, accountancy firms are beginning to incorporate the sponsorship of art-based projects into their corporate social responsibility (CSR) programmes.

EY is a big supporter of the arts in Singapore and has been running the EY Young Asean Outreach programme since 2007. Using its office space as an art gallery, the firm provides a platform for young and talented South-East Asian artists to display and sell their works. Exhibitions are held every four months and have featured artists from Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines, Myanmar, Indonesia and Vietnam.

‘In South-East Asia, where there is ethnic and people diversity, there are many undiscovered art talents but a general lack of opportunities to showcase their works beyond their home countries. We saw an opportunity to help address this need by aligning it with our corporate social responsibility, and thus launched the EY Asean Art Outreach programme,’ says Max Loh, managing partner, Asean and Singapore at EY.

A total of 20% of the sale proceeds from artists’ works are donated to three local charities – the Lions Befrienders Service Association (Singapore), the National Cancer Centre Research Fund and Club Rainbow (Singapore). To date, EY has organised 14 exhibitions including its current one, which features Singaporean artist Ron Wong.

Art sponsorship would appear to be a win-win for accountancy firms. ‘Through our established position in the business community and our efforts in this outreach programme, we hope to bring art closer to our people, clients, friends and the public. Featured artists benefit from the exposure to Singapore and its art collectors, as well as the valued opportunity to exhibit overseas for some,’ adds Loh.

For the charities, donations go

sport is still the most popular choice.‘Advocates for the arts do not

seem to have penetrated CR circles in the way that other sectors such as sports have. However, we believe that a thriving arts and culture sector benefits economies and societies, and we hope to design a more sustainable programme to continue our efforts in supporting the arts,’ says Yuen.

The benefit for Deloitte is that it can use its brand name and expansive network to drive philanthropy and community initiatives in the art space. It is able to help beneficiaries reach out to a local audience and promote their works, as well as fostering a greater appreciation of the arts by linking education and regional programmes.

At the business level Deloitte, which wants to encourage photography enthusiasts in the company to develop their talents, is using sponsorship events to further deepen relationships with clients.

‘Besides being an internal engagement platform, we are also able to host clients at the fundraising exhibition and give back to society, as there will be a charity element attached,’ adds Yuen.

Meanwhile, KPMG has been a sponsor of the da:ns festival at the city’s Esplanade theatre since its inauguration in 2006 as its way of contributing to the development of the arts in Singapore. The 10-day festival, which takes place this month, is a celebration of dance.

KPMG says the sponsorship gives it the opportunity to actively understand, engage and support its beneficiaries in a long-term relationship.

‘We believe in encouraging our people to be active in all the

▌▌▌’THROUGH OUR ESTABLISHED POSITION, WE HOPE TO BRING ART CLOSER TO OUR PEOPLE, CLIENTS, FRIENDS AND THE PUBLIC’

24 PRACTICE | CORPORATE SPONSORSHIP


▲ A WINDOW ON SOCIETY ‘Theatre no. 2’ by Ron Wong is currently being exhibited as part of the EY Young Asean Outreach programme

THE ARTS VERSUS SPORT: Audiences and sponsorships are well documented in sports, but little has been researched about the effectiveness of art sponsorship. Corporate sponsorship of fine and performing arts is fighting head to head with sport sponsorship, which has always been the more popular route.

A US-based research house, which analyses corporate sponsorship for sports and other events, carried out an insightful study. It found that more than half (56%) of those with an interest in the arts said that they would ‘almost always’ or ‘frequently’ buy a product from a company that sponsors such events over one that does not. By contrast, only about a third (36%) of football fans chose products based on company sponsorships. The highest loyalty levels have traditionally been seen in motorsports, where 72% claim to preferentially select sponsors’ products.

More interestingly for corporate sponsors, almost half (48%) of Americans with an interest in the arts indicated that they hold a higher trust in companies that sponsor such events compared with those who do not. Meanwhile, for Olympic Games enthusiasts, only 16% claim a higher trust in their sponsors. This would suggest that, while sports sponsorship is more popular, arts sponsorship may be more effective.

communities that we are involved with. Our corporate social responsibility programmes are a means to drive inclusion and offer opportunities for our people to make a difference in the communities they are passionate about,’ says Lee Sze Yeng, corporate citizenship partner at KPMG in Singapore.

Like Deloitte, KPMG also actively promotes interest in the arts among its staff. In 2011, the firm set up an ‘ARTitude’ committee to promote arts appreciation internally. ‘ARTitude reaches out to those with a flair in the arts, and has organised photo and art exhibitions to showcase staff talent,’ adds Yeng.

To complete the big four, PwC is actively engaged in promoting the arts in Singapore in conjunction with the National Arts Council. As part of the arts@work programme, the firm has supported the revival of several traditional art forms such as Chinese opera and jianzhi – the Chinese art of paper cutting.

Many of PwC’s arts initiatives go further. The CSR element is driven

by the firm’s strong belief in giving back to the community, with the firm providing financial and human resource support to revive the traditional Chinese art for local residents.

‘It was such an experience, to see Chinese opera as it was performed during the 1950s and 1960s. It was doubly rewarding to see the elderly residents of Banda Street immensely enjoying themselves,’ says Deborah

FOR MORE INFORMATION:

EY: http://tinyurl.com/art-outreach

Ong, partner, PwC Singapore. ‘Not only did we learn more about how to appreciate this ancient Chinese art form, we also brought smiles to the faces of the residents.’ ■

Justin Harper, journalist

25CORPORATE SPONSORSHIP | PRACTICE


My main role is to act as the group CFO of a company we are supporting in its preparations for an initial public offering (IPO). I’ve been looking at reporting structures, financial performance, cashflow, liquidity and cost structures to help drive profitability, capitalise reserves and reduce gearing. I’ve also been supporting the board in appointing new directors, increasing management capability, and ensuring compliance with local accounting standards and International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS).

I relocated here from Malaysia, where I gained my ACCA Qualification and was working as the FD of a hotel and property management company. Seven years ago I set up a firm here with an Australian business partner, delivering accounting, audit and tax services, before moving to my current role.

Cambodia has no restrictions on capital repatriation. It’s an emerging market with great investment and growth opportunities compared to countries such as Vietnam. Labour costs are also lower; floods in Thailand and the Japanese earthquake and tsunami prompted a number of Japanese manufacturers to relocate engine, car component, clothing and shoe plants here. However, there are still challenges with regard to access to finance and the cost of finance.

The Cambodian government wants to encourage more private sector companies to participate in IPO exercises, to stimulate capital markets and attract more investment

‘ CAMBODIA IS AN EMERGING MARKET WITH GREAT INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITIES’ FONG NEE WAI FCCA, CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER, LCH INVESTMENT, PHNOM PENH, CAMBODIA

companies and fund managers. So it’s relatively less stringent to list here than neighbouring countries. However, most local companies are not yet ready, and might take up to three years to resolve issues around audit, financial reporting and regulatory compliance. The government sought

advice and support from Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia and South Korea when setting up the Cambodian Stock Exchange (CSX).

The standard of technical accounting skill in Cambodia may be high but numbers are limited, and not keeping pace with growth in capital markets. Many of the smartest local finance professionals have already progressed to CFO or even CEO level. There are far more qualified ACCAs and CATs in Vietnam, although in Cambodia we are growing in numbers. Recent laws mean only people with Cambodia’s national accounting qualification can sign off financial reports, although the government is considering postponing this requirement for three years to allow more qualified accountants to come through.

I’m striving for a better work-life balance. Because I’m currently finalising the due diligence review while at the same time nearing the completion of an organisational restructuring exercise that has taken much of the last 18 months I’ve only recently been able to achieve that balance. At weekends, I enjoy driving out of the city into the countryside – there’s something about being among greenery and rivers that’s really relaxing and helps me to unwind. ■

SNAPSHOT:OIL AND GASThe global oil and gas industry is a challenging environment but one with fantastic opportunities, wherever you are based.

In Singapore, the general overview of the sector is very positive. Randstad’s Cathy Chan, team leader for accounting, says: ‘We are seeing an upward trend of candidates opting for a career in the industry rather than the conventionally more popular choices like banking and financial services. This is largely due to the longer-term stability and bigger paymaster perception of the industry.’ The key players in the region are BP, Shell and ExxonMobil.

Meanwhile, after five decades of development, China’s oil industry now plays an important role in the country’s development. Chan’s counterpart in China, Haining Sun, says: ‘Over the last 12 months, the oil and gas sector has strengthened in line with continually improving business conditions in China. This is fuelling jobs growth for skilled professionals across the sector.’

75%Chinese companies accounted for almost US$40bn in reported oil and gas transaction value in 2012, up 75% from 2011, according to an EY report on Asia-Pacific oil and gas transactions.

The view from

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Breathe air into your businessResearch from PwC shows that, when leadership teams work in collaboration with IT, company performance can excel. But not everyone has got the message

service technologies to improve productivity, efficiency and fuel savings.

The move follows the opening of a large global software centre in San Ramon, California, in November 2011. There, some 400 experts analyse enormous amounts of data generated across the global conglomerate.

Surprisingly, companies like GE that are willing to consider and adopt new technologies are not necessarily in

the majority. Many businesses are still failing to incorporate technology into their operations effectively.

Failure to investTake social media. Even though there are incredibly deep and powerful tools that can facilitate communication, strategy and growth, many businesses have yet to invest in them, says Taura Edgar, a Hong Kong-based consultant who works with major brands to develop digital marketing strategies. Edgar has noticed a tendency in Asia to think of social media as a means to a single end – to plan and develop a campaign for a product, for example, or to put out a website to communicate with customers.

‘Companies should think of social media as a telephone; it is what you do there that matters, not simply the technology itself. People are not thinking long term enough,’ says Edgar. ‘There is willingness, but often the lack of deep understanding, exacerbated by poor interdepartmental communication and responsibility, prevents long-term customer retention and therefore business goals aren’t being met.’

Looking at the findings of PwC’s survey, a key factor in organisations with strong collaborative teams is an ability to ‘intertwine business strategy

Information technology is as integral to large businesses as oxygen is to people. There is no longer a question of whether to use technology. How to use it effectively, on the other hand, remains a subject of constant debate.

A new global survey suggests that leadership and communication are key to leveraging technology into performance. Companies that are unwilling to communicate openly or push for faster and wider adoption of technology do so at their peril, says PwC in its 5th Annual Digital IQ Survey.

The survey of 1,100 senior executives in the Americas, Europe and Asia Pacific found that companies with strong relationships between the various c-suite executives, including the chief information officer (CIO), and other c-suite members are four times as likely as those with less collaborative teams to be top performers (those with revenue growth of more than 5%).

‘To me, it is almost obvious that more communication among executives and among everybody is a factor of success,’ says Roberto Mello, CFO at GE Healthcare China. ‘In a company where there is less transparency and less candour, where the information does not [move], it is more difficult to achieve goals.’

GE is a good example of how technology and communication can interact and generate results. One of the largest companies in the world, GE has adopted a variety of technologies to facilitate both internal and external communications. In the first quarter of 2013, GE’s earnings rose 14% over the same quarter a year earlier.

In June, GE unveiled its industrial internet strategy – an open global network that fuses advanced machines with key software and analytical technologies – in China. According to the company, this could add about US$3 trillion accumulated gross domestic product growth opportunities by 2030. The strategy will include a new software centre to work with Chinese companies in developing industrial

and information technology’ which often leads to ‘stronger performance’, says Chris Curran, a principal at PwC and a lead author of the survey report. Teams that stay on top of technological developments and business integration can develop better strategies and achieve better performance. And strong collaboration with the CIO and across the c-suite can lead to information economies of scale.

By knowing and effectively communicating and discussing the strengths and weaknesses of a particular system, business leaders can develop a better strategy. The trick is to think in a way that aligns the strengths of both the business and its IT. There is more to this than building consensus, though; rather, it is about reaching the right consensus.

PwC’s survey suggests that this may be key to leveraging IT into high performance. Companies in which conversations through and about technology are frequent are much more likely to produce better results. ‘They ensure that digital conversations are occurring across the business, and they consider all the ways that IT can drive value,’ says Tom DeGarmo, PwC’s technology consulting leader.

There are several areas in which businesses can benefit from strong collaboration. One is a more effective alignment of IT investments and business goals. This has two positive side effects. The first is more effective and longer range planning, which leads to more effective investment in IT. The second is a greater ability to balance the potential of technology against costs and risks. As many as 75% of strong collaborators said that their businesses have one cohesive multi-

▌▌▌EFFECTIVE AND CONSTANT COMMUNICATION AMONG LEADERS MAY BE KEY TO LEVERAGING IT INTO HIGH PERFORMANCE

28 CORPORATE | DIGITAL IQ


year business strategy, compared with 59% of other respondents.

Secondly, strong collaborators are more likely to interact with customers, particularly on mobile devices. Some 73% of strong collaborators get feedback in this way compared with 47% of other respondents. Strong collaborators are more likely to use Facebook for internal communications:

some 47% compared with 22% among others. In general, strong collaborators are much more likely to use social media such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, blogs or other specific online communities. In this area, the most visible benefit may be in the use of analytics data.

A third area is innovation. Strong collaborators are more likely to foster it

than others through dedicated groups or just-in-time teams, notes PwC. Frequently, the collaboration is driven by strong IT performance.

Fourthly, strong collaborators, thanks to the ongoing conversations among c-suite executives, are more likely to deliver initiatives on time, budget and scope. Only 27% of other firms say that IT initiatives are frequently on »

29DIGITAL IQ | CORPORATE



Download PwC’s 5th Annual 2013 Global Digital IQ Survey at http://tinyurl.com/pwc-digital

IT: INTEGRAL, NOT ADDITIONALIn order to generate economic returns, technology has to be an integral part of a company’s strategy rather than an addition to it. Executives who work and act together are more likely to achieve better results, says PwC in its 5th Annual Digital IQ Survey. Companies that master the ability to integrate technology and business are likely to perform better; the result can be faster growth and innovation.

The survey found that 39% of companies with executives identified as ‘strong collaborators’ were more likely to use new products or services for growth, while 31% would likely focus on organic growth. ‘Because they align their strategies, collaborative c-suite companies can move quickly and aggressively into the market and be far more responsive to their customers,’ says Chris Curran, a principal at PwC and a lead author of the report.

Over the next year, strong collaborators are most likely to invest in mobile technologies for customers (67%), followed by private cloud (58%), data mining and analysis (53%), and social media for external communication (52%).

Almost three years ago, the company set up a centralised data and reporting operation in Bangalore, India. This can be accessed through a company-wide network and is evolving into a large analytics tool.

A second initiative is open to higher-level executives who rely increasingly on their tablets. Known as One View, the service allows executives to access reports tailor-made for their specific needs and formatted specifically for their iPads.

‘The beauty of all this is that the source of all the data is similar, so it has eliminated a lot of inconsistencies,’ says Latham. The push to better manage the mounds of information that the company generates came from the highest level of management.

The benefits are myriad. For one thing, a lot of time is saved in trying to figure out if the data is accurate or, in the case of conflicts, whose data is accurate. This, in turn, helps speed up decision making. At the same time, the ability to customise data to individual needs allows executives to access the right data more often and bypass large flows of irrelevant information.

The investment involved in developing such an operation can be significant but, as PwC found out in its survey, companies with high digital IQ are more likely to invest in technology for mobility, cloud computing, business analytics and social media while tailoring their IT strategy to different age groups. A standout in this area is mobile technology – an area of focus for businesses in Asia Pacific. Some 61% of strong collaborators are likely to invest in mobile technology compared with 51% of other businesses.

The recommendation, says PwC, is for companies to encourage digital conversations and for the CEO to be actively involved in IT development. An effective roadmap can help and investments should be made with one eye clearly on the overarching business goals. ■

Alfred Romann, journalist

has long been in the Fortune 500 and reported a 7% rise in full-year profits throughout 2012 – underline how companies can use technology to improve management, internal communication and efficiency.

‘Unilever has recognised the importance of technology as an enabler of business,’ says Tony Latham, Unilever’s vice president of finance for North Asia. ‘We are in an information management journey.’

time and budget compared with 59% of strong collaborators.

A key player is, says PwC, the CEO; 82% of strong collaborators said that their CEO champions IT and is involved in discussion of how best to use it. Among other respondents, only 54% said the same thing of their CEO.

Unilever’s IT journeyA couple of initiatives at Unilever – another global conglomerate that

30 CORPORATE | DIGITAL IQ


MINERAL MESSAGEThe recent requirement that US SEC issuers and their suppliers provide disclosures on conflict minerals could affect thousands of companies and suppliers in Asia

things,’ he says. ‘One, they have to self-assess. Another important thing is to set up a risk committee and very quickly take the message to their vendors. A company is only as good as its weakest link in the vendor chain, so educating vendors is an immediate step that they need to take because it’s going to take some time for them to gear up to the whole process,’ Sadashiv says.

In Asia, thousands of companies could be affected by the act. While it is still unclear what the impact will be, one group that will fall squarely under the act, and is therefore obligated to file a report, are Asian companies that are SEC issuers.

Another group comprises those who, while not SEC issuers themselves, subcontract to issuers. ‘There is a huge population of Asian companies who are contract manufacturers and suppliers, and all of them come under the ambit,’ says Sadashiv. ‘Even though they may not have to report to the SEC, they have to necessarily satisfy its principle.’

Based on EY’s research, Sadashiv reckons that the sectors affected include electronic components and semiconductor devices in Singapore; digital and electronic components and metalworking in Malaysia; smelters and semiconductor devices in the Philippines; automotive and communication device manufacturers in Indonesia; and metalworking, automotive, smelters and electronic component manufacturing in Thailand.

As advisers, EY is targeting SEC issuers that in turn would need to check with their vendors, and has begun providing advisory services to companies in the US, Japan, the Middle East, Australia and Europe.

Undertaking complianceA company needs to undertake three steps to comply with the law. The first is to assess whether its manufactured products contain conflict minerals. If it is not using any, then no investigation is required.

Even if a company has, as Sadashiv puts it, ‘the slightest shadow of doubt’ over whether it or the supply chain is using any of the minerals, then it must undertake a ‘Reasonable Country of Origin Inquiry’. Companies then have a window to investigate origins, amounting to two years for a large business and four years for a smaller one.

As many as several thousand companies around the world will need to take action to comply with a section under the US Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, which seeks

to address human rights issues in parts of Africa. The level of awareness of the reporting process is, however, ‘quite low’, according to K Sadashiv, partner, climate change and sustainability services, EY in Singapore.

Section 1502 of the act requires that certain public companies provide disclosures about the use of specified minerals from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and nine adjoining countries (see box overleaf). The section is applicable to all US Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) issuers and their suppliers, including foreign companies, that manufacture or contract to manufacture products where ‘conflict minerals are necessary to the functionality or production’ of the product.SEC issuers refer to companies listed in the US or those that have raised significant funds there.

The minerals comprise cassiterite, columbite-tantalite and wolframite – the ores from which tin, tantalum and tungsten respectively are extracted – as well as gold.

‘The US does not want to be party to companies which may be indirectly through their economic activities funding warlords or creators of conflict, especially those who are using minerals being mined in these countries where it has now been proven that human rights abuses are of a serious nature,’ explains Sadashiv.

Based on SEC estimates, about 6,000 issuers will be affected directly by the rule, with many private companies supplying issuers affected indirectly. The SEC has estimated the initial cost of compliance to be between US$3bn and US$4bn, with annual costs thereafter of between US$207m and US$609m, while countries covered account for 15% to 20% of the world’s supply of tantalum and smaller percentages of the other three minerals.

In the discussion that led to the final rules for the Act, it was decided that mines would not be covered, while anything that was in the supply chain prior to 31 January 2013 would not be investigated. The first report is due in May next year and will cover the 2013 calendar year.

Time to actAccording to Sadashiv, proactivity is vital. ‘We are telling companies to get going immediately in doing a couple of

32 INSIGHT | CONFLICT MINERALS


This does not, however, mean that companies can sit back. ‘You can’t go to sleep,’ Sadashiv warns. ‘You still have to start carrying out due diligence.’

At the second stage, companies that are fairly certain that their products contain conflict minerals will need to determine who their sources are.

The third stage involves putting together a specialised disclosure form (‘Form SD’) and submitting a conflict minerals report. This can conclude that the sources are not

from the countries covered by the act and, being ‘conflict-free’, there is no need to file again.

‘During the first step, companies need to carry out a vendor survey and then determine which suppliers are using minerals that are conflict-free

and which are not,’ says Sadashiv. ‘Those two are actually good situations because you know which ones you need to do a conflict minerals report on and which ones you don’t need to bother with. The third situation, where they say it is indeterminate, is the tricky one.’

While Form SD is fairly simple, the declarations and evidence of due diligence also required can make things complicated. No format exists for the overall document, but in the area of due diligence, a framework adopted by the »

▲ DIGGING DEEPA miner at work in the Democratic Republic of Congo. SEC issuers and suppliers must disclose the use of four minerals originating from the country and nine of its neighbours

▌▌▌’COMPANIES NEED TO CARRY OUT A VENDOR SURVEY AND THEN DETERMINE WHICH SUPPLIERS ARE USING CONFLICT-FREE MINERALS’

33CONFLICT MINERALS | INSIGHT


Companies that reach the second and third steps are required to get the due diligence process assured and then audited. While the act does not specifically mention the penalties for non-compliance under Section 1502, nevertheless,

companies that fail to comply are potentially subject to certain liabilities. Under SEC rules, should someone make a share purchase or sale on the strength of a specialised disclosure which turns out to be untrue, the individual can sue the party responsible for damages.

‘That is very broad ranging and quite a scary situation because it could be unspecified damages,’ says Sadashiv. ‘One must consider the value of developing and maintaining reviewable business records supporting the Reasonable Country of Origin Inquiry and due diligence efforts,’ he advises. ‘It is essential that companies carry out sufficient due diligence and keep sufficient evidence.’ ■

Suki Lor, journalist

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development has been suggested. Sadashiv foresees that over the next few years, a relevant and robust standard reporting framework could evolve for the whole process.

Status protectionThe benefits of a positive report are clear. Companies that are able to report that the minerals used in their products are conflict-free will be more attractive to investors, while vendors that continue to turn in ‘DRC conflict undeterminable’ reports could risk losing business, Sadashiv assesses. ‘The loss of status as a vendor is a true danger that Asian companies have to guard themselves against,’ he cautions.

The US Congress enacted the Dodd-Frank Act in July 2010, requiring that certain public companies provide disclosures on the use of specified conflict minerals from the Democratic Republic of Congo and nine adjoining countries: Central African Republic, South Sudan. Zambia, Angola, Republic of Congo, Tanzania, Burundi, Rwanda and Uganda. Section 1502 of the act, issued in 2012, is applicable to

all SEC issuers, including foreign companies, that manufacture or contract to manufacture products where ‘conflict minerals are necessary to the functionality or production’ of the product.

The act came in response to rising concerns that armed groups engaging in mining operations in the region may be subjecting workers and indigenous people to serious human rights

abuses, as well as using proceeds from the sale of the minerals to finance regional conflicts.

The SEC estimates that 75% of registrants subject to section 1502 will need to develop an independently audited report.

DODD-FRANK ACT: SECTION 1502

▌▌▌’IT IS ESSENTIAL THAT COMPANIES CARRY OUT SUFFICIENT DUE DILIGENCE AND KEEP SUFFICIENT EVIDENCE’

▲ CONFLICT OF INTERESTA Congolese miner bags raw chunks of cassiterite, the base element of tin, one of four conflict minerals.

34 INSIGHT | CONFLICT MINERALS


ENTR

EPRE

NEU

RSCALL TO COLLABORATEWith many countries continuing to face high levels of unemployment and challenges in economic growth, EY’s G20 Entrepreneurship Barometer 2013 calls on governments to collaborate with entrepreneurs to kick-start their economies and create jobs. The barometer follows the EY report Avoiding a lost generation, which was launched at the Young Entrepreneurs Alliance Summit in Moscow in June.

Mature countries scored highest overall on the barometer for providing the best ecosystems for entrepreneurship.

THE SURVEYThe barometer is based on a survey of over 1,500 leading entrepreneurs and qualitative data on entrepreneurial conditions across the G20. It also draws extensively on EY’s own research of more than 200 government leading practices. Access the barometer at http://tinyurl.com/qznshqu

FIVE PILLARSThe barometer ranks countries for providing the best ecosystems for entrepreneurship across five pillars. In the graphic below we show the top six countries ranked under each category.

Access to funding

USUK

ChinaCanadaAustralia

South Africa

Entrepreneurship culture

USSouth Korea

CanadaJapan

AustraliaUK

Tax and regulation

Saudi ArabiaCanada

South KoreaUK

South AfricaJapan

Education and training

FranceAustralia

USSouth Korea

EUUK

Coordinated supportRussiaMexicoBrazil

IndonesiaIndiaChina

ENTREPRENEURIAL HOTSPOTS

WHAT DO ENTREPRENEURS NEED?

Access to funding70% struggle to access funding in their country

Entrepreneurship culture15% believe their country’s culture supports entrepreneurship

Tax and regulation83% want tax incentives focused on innovation

Education and training84% say specific entrepreneurship training is required for success

Coordinated support33% see business incubators as a top entrepreneurship accelerator

Attributed their company’s innovations to job creation

See opportunities where others see risk

74%

US

UK

SOUTH KOREA

AUSTRALIA

CANADA

84%

35GRAPHICS | INSIGHT


WHAT THE WORLD THINKSThe responses to the draft international integrated reporting framework consultation are in. Ramona Dzinkowski analyses what interested stakeholders had to say

Once again, the public was asked to comment on the integrated reporting framework; not unexpectedly, the 359 responses provided mixed reviews. On the one hand, the IIRC was lauded for its efforts to give stakeholders a fuller understanding of how companies produce value; on the other, achieving consensus on a final version of integrated reporting is clearly a work in progress.

Widely valuedThe work of the IIRC is widely valued by the broader accounting community. The Federation of European Accountants ‘commends the IIRC for the significant achievement of issuing the draft framework… and supports the IIRC’s objective of gaining as much practical experience with the draft framework as possible.’

Similarly, international companies such as Microsoft welcome a fresh look at corporate reporting that gives greater transparency and communication with shareholders. As Microsoft’s treasury controller Bob Laux explains: ‘Many of us involved in financial reporting have lamented, admittedly in very generalised terms, that financial reporting seems to be moving more towards a compliance exercise rather than a communication exercise. Microsoft believes that integrated reporting provides the mechanism to improve financial reporting by providing information in a concise manner on how a company creates and sustains value.’

ACCA also believes the IIRC is on the right lines with its framework and the way ahead is to flesh out the gaps. Richard Martin, ACCA’s head of corporate reporting, says: ‘The plans for integrated reporting are right in principle and there is a significant opportunity for the quality of corporate reporting to be improved by giving to investors and others a more complete view of the entity and its prospects over a longer time frame than is usually covered in traditional corporate reporting. However, the framework still needs to be fully field-tested, and it would help prospective preparers greatly if the IIRC were able to provide case studies of best

The shortcomings of traditional corporate reporting have long been of concern to users of financial statements and other stakeholders. The gist of the issue is that corporate reporting has a

considerable way to go to explain the value creation capabilities of the company.

Steven Wallman, an expert on intangible valuation and former commissioner of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), says: ‘The inability to recognise as assets on the balance sheet some of the new and most significant building blocks of business has resulted in balance sheets that bear little resemblance to the true financial position of firms they are supposed to describe. We are assigning the balance sheet to the status of an antique and ignoring the needs of a broad array of financial statement users, including users such as creditors who are increasingly lending on soft assets.’

In April, the International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC), a coalition of regulators, investors, companies and standard-setters, released for comment its latest draft of the integrated reporting framework. By most accounts, the framework is an ambitious and holistic approach to capturing and reporting the activities of companies. Integrated reporting, according to the IIRC, attempts to:

* catalyse a more cohesive and efficient approach to corporate reporting that communicates the full range of factors that materially affect the ability of an organisation to create value over time;

* inform the allocation of financial capital that supports value creation over the short, medium and long term;

* enhance accountability and stewardship for the broad base of capitals (financial, manufactured, intellectual, human, social and relationship, and natural) and promote understanding of their interdependencies;

* support integrated thinking, decision-making and actions that focus on the creation of value.

The April framework was the culmination of a multi-phased public consultation process beginning with the 2011 discussion paper Towards integrated reporting – communicating value in the 21st century, and followed by a prototype framework in November 2012, successive drafts, and a final review and endorsement by the IIRC’s working group and council. Meanwhile, over 100 companies around the world are currently testing the principles of integrated reporting in their corporate reporting cycles.

36 INSIGHT | INTEGRATED REPORTING


WHAT THE WORLD THINKSpractice across a range of different organisations. These would also help promote adoption and aid compliance in an area where there is much enthusiasm but little awareness.’

The challengesHowever, challenges remain. One major question is whether an integrated report is to be the overarching reporting framework with links to sub-reports that are traditionally required, or whether elements of integrated reporting should be incorporated into other established reports. The American Institute of CPAs (AICPA) suggests the filer should decide, and that US companies may prefer to incorporate the content elements of integrated reporting into their existing voluntary reporting

structures, as opposed to developing a separate standalone report.

Observers have also commented that the current framework is too conceptual and that integrated reporting will be neither comprehensive nor comparable between companies unless there is authoritative guidance. CGA Canada says that without specific guidance or standards the model loses its appeal, and has called on the IIRC to adopt a more proactive approach and develop authoritative and principles-based comprehensive standards, including specific indicators and measurement methods. ‘In the absence of such authoritative and principles-based comprehensive standards,’ it warns, ‘diversity in practice will emerge and the comparability of integrated reporting will diminish.’

Others question the wisdom of adding yet more disclosure and reporting to the plate of the CFO

and, without the force of law, whether there’s any real hope of adoption. Business Europe, an

organisation representing business and labour associations across Europe, says: ‘Instead of bringing the existing reporting together and reducing the overall excessive amount of information, the consultation draft is suggesting introducing yet another separate report.’ It goes on to warn that another standalone report will not only increase the administrative burdens for business, but ‘will add to the existing information overload that prevents stakeholders from seeing the wood for the trees’.

Although the IIRC recognises the ability to obtain reliable data will affect how far integrated reporting can be applied, critics recommend a reality check. The Canadian Investors Relations Institute says the IIRC ‘does not adequately acknowledge the fundamental shift in corporate culture and the significant investment in systems and processes required to enable integrated management that must take place before an integrated report can be produced. We recognise that the IIRC’s mandate is reporting, but success will be elusive without more effort to provide some guidance

on implementing integrated thinking and many of its inherent processes.’

Some companies also suspect the IIRC is simply asking too much. HSBC Bank says: ‘With the current burden of reporting borne by financial institutions, we do not think it is reasonable to expect companies to

produce separate integrated reports. Given the detailed statutory and regulatory framework which is applied to banks, and the volume of required disclosures, it will be difficult to integrate reporting in full.’

Finding a way to measure or even describe the ‘six capitals’ and their inter-relationships also remains a concern. HSBC says the IIRC does not go far enough in explaining how value should be measured: ‘The framework is surprisingly vague on how companies should compute value and on how users of an integrated report should assess it, given that value creation is at the heart of integrated reporting. Value created in the form of financial returns to providers of financial capital is a familiar concept, but qualifying it in the form of positive or negative effects on other capitals and other stakeholders introduces a degree of subjectivity which is virtually impossible to quantify.’

Others question the value of reporting on any of the six capitals unless they can somehow be tied to the bottom line. »

▌▌▌‘INTEGRATED REPORTING HAS THE POTENTIAL TO ENHANCE THE DEPTH, BREADTH AND QUALITY OF CORPORATE REPORTING’

37INTEGRATED REPORTING | INSIGHT


in its development. The complexity of the issues being addressed and the extent to which experimentation will expose further challenges will almost certainly result in the need for the framework to continue to evolve. The existing framework should not therefore be regarded as the final destination but a big step in the direction of bringing the reporting model firmly into the 21st century.’

The IIRC plans to issue the initial version of the framework in December 2013 and to update it periodically as integrated reporting evolves. ■

Ramona Dzinkowski is an economist and business journalist

The way aheadSo where does this leave the IIRC in its efforts to spawn new ‘integrated thinking’ around how a company creates value? Many want practical case studies from existing pilot projects, and for a slow and iterative approach to future drafts.

ACCA recommends that the IIRC makes sure that any further iterations of the integrated reporting framework are developed in close consideration of existing frameworks. One of the IIRC’s short-term priorities, it says, should be to liaise with other regulators and standard-setters to address potential barriers to the adoption of integrated reporting. ‘In particular, steps need to be taken to ensure that integrated reporting can be made consistent with, and avoid duplication with, existing requirements and guidance relating to corporate reporting – for example, the UK’s new strategic report. Best practice examples are needed on how cohesion can be achieved with current requirements for annual reports, MD&A, sustainability reports and the like.’

PwC, which has been supportive in its response to the latest framework consultation draft, sees it not so much as the final destination as a step in the right direction: ‘We believe integrated reporting has the potential to enhance the depth, breadth and quality of corporate reporting and a principles-based framework is a major step


Consultation and responses: http://tinyurl.com/c6dml9s

See ‘ACCA publishes integrated report’, this issue, ACCA section; and ‘Vision for the future’, AB, International

Edition (05/2013), at www.accaglobal.com/ab22

Susana Penarrubia, director, Deutsche Asset & Wealth Management (of Deutsche Bank AG) discusses

integrated reporting: http://tinyurl.com/nt2cx9d

38 INSIGHT | INTEGRATED REPORTING


NEW ROUTES TO THE TOPWhat career paths do the next generation of CFOs need to follow? ACCA’s Jamie Lyon reports on how the career trajectory of aspirant finance leaders is gradually changing

Are all bets off when we consider what the future CFO role will look like, and the career experiences that will equip the CFOs of tomorrow with the skills, experiences and capabilities they will need?

ACCA and IMA (Institute of Management Accountants) explore this question in one of the largest-ever global studies of current and future CFO career paths. The conclusions are set out in a new report, Future pathways to finance leadership, which looks at the career routes that current finance leaders have taken, and at their views about future career journeys, addressing the critical question for those seeking to join the next generation of CFOs: how do I get there? More than 750 CFOs, finance directors and C-suite finance leaders were involved in the survey.

The bottom line is that optimal career experiences are already being defined, a reflection of how the role of today’s finance leader is changing, as well as broader technological, social and economic trends impacting business and the finance function: faster business change, rebalancing growth

across markets, the changing footprint of the finance organisation, and the proliferation of information and data.

Traditional linear routes through the finance function to CFO are applying less, and new stepping stones are gaining importance. As the CFO role rebalances between its traditional stewardship responsibility and the finance leader’s role in helping the organisation create value, so the capabilities and skills that must be brought to bear will change, as will the career experiences of value. Not that the finance leadership

rulebook needs to be entirely rewritten: our research reveals this is a story of evolution, not revolution. So what are the words of wisdom from current CFOs on the career experiences that aspirant finance professionals should get under their belt?

Focus on your fundamentalsFuture CFOs will still need a strong financial understanding and should target career experiences that provide them with that understanding across various points in the finance value chain. Ninety-five percent of current CFOs agreed it was important that future CFOs have experience in the core areas of financial and management accounting. Almost half of them have had six or more finance roles during their career. The finance fundamentals are not changing, but the context is.

Get strategicThe future CFO role in supporting strategic growth is more valued. Current CFOs cited strategy formulation and execution as the most important area in which future CFOs should have

experience. Over the next decade the business landscape will be reshaped by market volatility, globalisation and transformational innovation. In a climate where ‘commercials’ will change quickly, deep business understanding will be prized. Future CFOs will gain from having the battle scars of commercial experience.

Analytics: the next big thingHow organisations regress, correlate and extrapolate data to drive better decision making is the next ‘big opportunity’ for tomorrow’s finance team as data grows and the multiplicity of information presents challenges to business decision-making. Today’s CFOs see insight and analytics as a key priority for how finance can add value moving forward. It makes sense for aspirant CFOs to get experience in this area. »

▌▌▌TRADITIONAL ROUTES THROUGH FINANCE TO CFO ARE APPLYING LESS AND NEW STEPPING STONES ARE GAINING IMPORTANCE

39LEADERSHIP | INSIGHT


Risk experienceCurrent CFOs said experience in risk management was the third most important area for future CFOs, and risk management challenges were seen as the second most important factor influencing the CFO’s future role.

Become a dealmakerMerger and acquisition (M&A) activity was identified as the fourth most important experience area. As well as technical finance experience in structuring deals, such activity can help expand skills in change and project management. As operations rebalance and tap into growth opportunities, we expect more M&A activity in the future. Funding, capital market experience and investor relations are core future finance capabilities for CFOs of larger businesses too.

Know your stakeholdersCFO aspirants need to plan for roles that broaden their stakeholder engagement and cultivate strong relationship management skills. But the emerging powerhouse stakeholder that future CFOs need to be mindful of in an age of brand disloyalty is customers of the business. The future finance organisation will need to be attuned to the needs of different consumers and develop a culture which is customer-centric.

Develop the management skills that matter While next-generation CFOs will need a wide range of skills, a number of standout management capabilities are needed. The top four skills identified in our survey were leadership, communication, strategy and change management.

Regulation and reportingRegulation was cited as the third-highest influence on the future CFO role. Future chiefs need to be confident operating in a regulated environment and be adept at implementing structures and processes that manage legislative and tax requirements effectively. We can also expect ongoing changes in reporting requirements – a rise in integrated reporting, more involvement of the finance organisation in reporting on corporate performance measures, increasing use of financial

Most CFOs started their career in audit firms or finance functions, and most have never had a role outside the finance function.

Today’s CFOs started their careers in classic ‘finance’ training grounds. Forty per cent began their finance careers in public accounting firms, while 42% started in a finance role in business. The majority (61%) have never taken roles outside the finance team. This represents an ongoing challenge for finance leaders in developing their commercial acumen and understanding, and suggests much of this takes place in situ as CFO, rather than during the career journey.

Only just over a quarter of the current CFOs in the sample had spent time in an overseas role. Financial director and financial controller roles remain the prior destination of choice for those with their sights set on the top finance job. Meanwhile, 60% of current CFOs were recruited externally.

TODAY’S ‘CLASSIC CAREER’

TODAY’S LADDER TO THE TOP

Previous role?

Internal or external recruit?

Emerging market role?

International experience?

Role outside finance?

Moved industries?

More than five finance roles?

Moved businesses?

First role?

31% Controller

60% External

75% No

73% No

61% No

74% Yes

56% No

80% Yes

42% Business/industry

40 INSIGHT | LEADERSHIP


and non-financial data, recalibrating investment assessments to account for environmental or social impacts, and so on.

Get connectedTomorrow’s CFOs need to be technologically adept and understand how solutions can drive better finance delivery and workflow. The convergence of social, mobile and cloud technologies may revolutionise practices, while other developments include plug-and-play technology, and access to real-time information that allows CFOs to cut data many ways to obtain an instant integrated view of business performance.

Expand your footprintThe future CFO will need to be able to manage the different demands between mature and emerging markets, and align

Teuta Bakalli FCCA, CFO, Pepper EuropeTo achieve sustainable growth in the future, CFOs will really need to understand and be very competent in risk management. They have to recognise that the risks that businesses face will continue to evolve – for example risks relating to

social and digital media, or risks as a result of globalisation and expanding the business into emerging markets.

Roberto Mello, CFO, GE Healthcare Greater ChinaTake the opportunities to have different assignments in different parts of the world. Understand how things are done, become more adaptable in your thought processes, to different cultures; working effectively in one country

is not always the same in another country. Recognise that diversity is powerful, and learn how to leverage it.

Jeffrey C Thomson, president and CEO, IMA (Institute of Management Accountants)Today’s CFO faces many challenges and these will only increase, especially in the areas of globalisation, technology, consumer sophistication and competition. CFOs need to have multiple lines

of sight – oversight, hindsight, and foresight – and balance technical skills with leadership skills.

Richard Moat FCCA, CFO, Eircom GroupAn important piece of advice I would give future CFOs is to gain commercial experience and business understanding. For aspirant CFOs who wish to lead larger listed organisations, getting experience of capital markets and merger,

acquisition and disposal activity will be ever more important.Chair of the ACCA/IMA Accountants for Business Global Forum

their strategies accordingly. They will need to be adept at working in the global business environment, leading teams which are diverse and virtual across mature and emerging markets. Future CFOs who have cross-cultural, cross-market business and finance experience will be highly valued. ■

Jamie Lyon FCCA is head of corporate sector at ACCA


Future pathways to finance leadership can be found at www.accaglobal.com/transformation

Interviews with CFOs in China can be viewed at www.accaglobal.com/ab19

41LEADERSHIP | INSIGHT


Career boostYour leadership journey begins by looking within yourself, says our talent doctor Dr Rob Yeung. Plus, searching for jobs with your mobile device, the perfect commute, and more

TALENT DOCTOR: LEADERSHIPI work at an organisation that my colleagues and I describe as a ‘leadership consulting firm’ and I run workshops helping people to become better leaders. But what do we mean by the term ‘leadership’?

There are theories of leadership such as the charismatic leadership model, the transformational leadership model and so on. But I don’t think that we need such jargon. To understand what leadership is, we need only to think about the good leaders we have encountered.

Try it now. Pause and bring to mind a specific leader or two who brought out the best in you. They may have been leaders who managed you or merely leaders you observed, but try to think about two such individuals.

Now ask yourself: What exactly did each do or say to bring out the best in you? And how did each make you feel? When I’m doing this exercise in leadership development workshops, I usually ask managers to write down the exceptional leaders’ names and a few bullet points about what they did and the feelings they engendered. You can try it too if you like.

Ask enough people and they usually say that these good leaders inspired them, trusted them, empowered them and made work fun. Effective leaders challenged people, invited discussion and made people feel valued, respected and that they had an important role to play within the organisation.

Now try the reverse thought experiment too. Think back to a couple of leaders who dragged you or others down. Most managers I work with can only too easily recall such leaders. What did each of these not-so-good leaders do or say? And how did each make you and others feel?

In answer, many people say that the ineffective leaders they’ve encountered tended to be moody, negative individuals. Perhaps they micro-managed their teams, were quick to find fault or blamed others. These leaders often caused such consternation and frustration that most people would have been happier if they had left the organisation.

So there you have it. If you’re a leader who wants to get better at what you do, you don’t need to understand theories that are currently in vogue about leadership. Just think back to the good leaders you’ve come across to understand the kind of behaviour you should aspire to demonstrate to bring out the best in others. Likewise, recall those ineffective leaders you’ve had the displeasure of working with to remind yourself how not to manage those around you.

Of course, understanding how you would like to be – your personal vision of your future self – is only the first step in the journey towards becoming a better leader. You next need to get feedback from colleagues on how you currently are. Only by understanding the gap between your future vision and your current reality can you then plan the practical steps to get there. But with effort it’s possible to become a better leader, the kind of person who inspires others to want to do and perform at their best.

Dr Rob Yeung is a psychologist at leadership consulting firm Talentspace and author of over 20 bestselling career and management books, including E is for Exceptional: The New Science of Success (Pan Books). He also appears as a business commentator on BBC and CNN.


www.talentspace.co.uk

@robyeung

42 INSIGHT | CAREERS


THE BIG BREAK CONOR LAWLER ACCA

Lawler, who became an ACCA member last year, is vice-president, finance, at luxury hotel Atlantis, The Palm, in Dubai. With a proven track record in the international hotel industry, Lawler previously worked as FD for Hyatt Hotels across Europe and the Middle East. ‘It’s an interesting and diverse business,’ he says of working for such a globally recognisable brand. Read Lawler’s full interview in ACCACareers.com’s Success Stories.

MOBILE JOB SEARCHSo far in 2013, 24% of UK smartphone users have used their device to search for job vacancies online – a 7% increase on 2012, according to Google’s Think Insights research.

Last year, ACCA Careers ran what was at the time the largest survey of UK mobile recruitment attitudes and activity. Of the 32,000 users that took part, 63% said they had used their mobile device to search for a job. However, only 48% said they would apply for jobs in this way, with many citing a lack of confidence in the process and security, or unhappiness with the user experience.

Attitudes elsewhere are more forgiving, with mobile-first in Africa meaning it’s almost the norm and 4G mobile connectivity rolled out in many countries. Companies are also taking pains to keep up, with the Big Four among the many that have created apps, optimised their mobile recruitment through social media and invested in mobile-optimised sites.

But what are the pros and cons of mobile recruitment? Pros: get the latest jobs anytime, anywhere; respond to employers and apply for jobs quickly; stay ahead of those who apply via desktops in the evening. Cons: the user experience can be less friendly than via a desktop; mobile sites/devices are not always as secure.

THE VALUE OF CPDACCA has produced a video on getting the most value out of your CPD. It underlines that, whichever path your career is taking, CPD learning needs to be relevant to your role and career ambitions. It also emphasises that, whether you’re in accounting and finance, teaching, law or


See the video on getting the most value from your CPD at www.accaglobal.com/ab20

www.accacareers.com

1 How important are soft skills?It’s a people industry, so dealing with people and building and leading a team are imperative.

2 First thing you look for in potential employee?The right attitude and willingness to learn.

Lawler’s top five tips for a successful career in the hotel sector:

elsewhere, by completing your CPD requirement you’ll remain competitive in your job market and enhance your career development. See right for details. ■

3 What are the in-demand skills for 2014?Adaptability and being up to date with the latest technology.

4 What advice can you give young finance professionals?Be open to change and look outside the box for

opportunities to grow and develop.

5 What’s the toughest interview question you’ve been asked?Do you know there is a height limit for this position? (I’m 6 feet 6 inches tall and had applied to join the US Air Corps).

THE PERFECT COMMUTEIn Indonesia’s West Java province only 300 train carriages service 500,000 commuters daily. So people sit on roofs and hang out of doors. And in Japan commuters are squeezed into trains by stationmasters. In fact, you might say the ‘perfect commute’ is

not to have one at all.Not everyone’s is like this of course. More people are

cycling, meaning that their commute pays them back in health benefits and is cheaper, while also doing the environment a favour. But for many commuters, late trains, crowds and smelly armpits are a daily hazard.

So here are a few ideas on getting value from your commute. Read a good book. Smartphones and tablets can also define whether you’re a ‘power commuter’ – one who deals with emails, or browses the latest headlines – or a ‘catch-up-on-me-

time commuter’ – one who plays games, updates Facebook, or chats about the night before with friends. Whatever you do, your commute can be bonus time not lost time.

43CAREERS | INSIGHT


factory. Much impressed, they asked for a million pairs of shoes – with no more than five defective pairs.

The first box duly arrived; there were five pairs of defective shoes. The buyers rang to complain. They were told: ‘Well, you ordered a million pairs and no more than five defects. So we shipped you the defects. We don’t actually do defects.’

TQM was originally a Japanese philosophy brought to the West by W

Edwards Deming. When the flood of consultants retreated (everyone had been TQMed), another influx came in through TQM reborn – or Six Sigma. This again focused on zero defect but was more institutionalised; people were almost regarded as ‘initiates’ and graded up to ‘black belt’.

In this article I explore a number of theories that deal with operations management, including total quality management (TQM) and Six Sigma, business process reengineering (BPR), lean management, virtual organisations and strategic cost management.

TQMTotal quality management was a very powerful process in its day for dealing with inefficiency – particularly the

cost of errors and waste. In the mid-1980s a veritable army of consultants swept through organisations to rid them of error-prone processes. A central idea was that of ‘zero defect’, as exemplified in this story told at the time:

Some Western buyers visited a Japanese shoe

One needs to be very discerning about these corporate theories and belief systems. The acid test is, as we saw in my articles on the topic, what economic value actually comes out?

The significance of TQM to accountants is that it suggests that one of the key drivers of cost is the cost of quality defects; this can be up to 10% of the total cost structure, and some have estimated more.

BPR Business process reengineering is a challenging process that seeks to simplify complexity. In effect, it is a combination of

*process mapping (descended from ‘organisation and methods’, from scientific

management);

*applying automation: IT to cut out and simplify processes;

*organisational simplification;

*change management.Basically, BPR – the original gurus of which were Michael Hammer and James Champy – is another example of a ‘theory’ that is a collection of disparate techniques which have then been moulded into a unified, structured process – not unlike the blue- and red-oceans material we looked at last year on strategy and the balanced scorecard. There doesn’t seem to be too much of it around at the minute – which is odd, as it thrived around the time of the early 1990s recession.

My observations of clients who use BPR is that they often don’t realise that this is pretty fundamental organisational change and needs to be managed as such; often, the failure is in the implementation.

BPR is relevant to accountants as it can be a most useful challenge to redundant processes within finance – witness supplier payments, the production of management reports/accounts etc.

Lean managementThis can be defined as the process of ensuring that investment is limited to those processes and resources that add value to the end customer. Also, there should be zero waste.

To enable that to happen, great attention needs to be given to smooth flow

Operations managementIn the fourth article in his series about management theories, Dr Tony Grundy looks at a range of operational approaches

44 INSIGHT | MANAGEMENT AND STRATEGY


CPDGet verifiable CPD units by answering questions on this article at: www.accaglobal.com/abcpd

▲DRIVINGTHEDIFFERENCEThe concept of lean management was engineered by Japanese car manufacturer Toyota

in value-adding activities. Having lots of stock lying around is thus not consistent with that and is to be avoided by having ‘pull’ processes (the Japanese labelled this kanban).

This philosophy has its roots in the car industry; before the term ‘lean’ was coined, Ford laid huge emphasis on efficient manufacturing processes. ‘Lean’ can be traced back to scientific management in the form of work studies. The actual crystallisation of the process was at Toyota.

Indeed, such a process is a philosophy – like TQM (and there are common elements with that and BPR) – and thus it is a cultural phenomenon. Here lies the rub: to implement it requires some culture shift and organisations are often resistant to doing that. So while lean management might seem a very attractive idea, the failures can easily outweigh the successes.

Lean management is important for accountants as it highlights that business models based on low cost may be based on low wastage and not on lower customer value.

Virtual organisationsTurning more directly to organisational theory we need to address virtual organisations. These are characterised as those with few physical assets (such as internet-based organisations), those that may not be discrete legal entities, those based on alliances/partnerships, and those with a geographically dispersed workforce – or a combination of these.

Even where the whole organisation isn’t virtual it is possible to find ‘virtual teams’. This is becoming more prevalent in the finance department

– where accountants sit physically in a business team while reporting to senior finance management.

This can have the advantage of much greater intimacy and added value – and also lower cost as there is less need for a very hierarchical structure within finance.

A lot of this is enabled by technology – especially by email and mobile. Virtual organisations were foreseen at least in part by organisational guru Charles

Handy as long ago as 1994 – before the internet and emailmania had taken off.

One thing to take away from this idea is that there are frequently a lot more organisational models to choose from than the straightforward functional hierarchy. Other areas worth studying include self-managed teams. This is not only of relevance to the FD in terms of finance staff, but also in advising on cost management elsewhere in the business.

Strategic cost managementWhile there are clearly some useful things to draw from all these approaches, one might get left feeling that, individually, they aren’t

▌▌▌ONE NEEDS TO BE VERY DISCERNING ABOUT CORPORATE THEORIES. THE ACID TEST IS, WHAT ECONOMIC VALUE ACTUALLY COMES OUT?

quite as powerful as they are claimed to be. One feels a certain hunger for a more integrative approach.

I define strategic cost management (SCM) as ‘managing costs for shareholder value’. To ensure that costs are never managed in isolation, they should also be appraised according to both short- and longer term benefits.

Another rule is that costs should never be managed in such a way that will undermine the strategy and

competitive advantage. This means that it is a no-no to reduce costs now if the value destroyed in the future will exceed the savings.

My five phases of SCM are: issue definition; diagnosis (why are costs too high/ineffective?); challenging options; evaluation; and implementation.

The first four phases are perhaps best done at least in part through some kind of workshop activity. Typically, a couple of days should take you through the majority of the first three

phases. Implementation can take months.

Useful tools for the diagnosis include value and cost-driver analysis, helping to do the trade-off between value and cost. If the reality is that costs are plainly too high, then it can be permissible to simplify the process by just asking the question, ‘Why?’ and representing that as a simple ‘fishbone’ analysis. Value and cost drivers are described in my articles on economic value.

For challenging options there are various checklists. For example, imagine that you were an alien taking over this company: how would you manage costs here?

Just as in TQM, BPR and lean management, the biggest constraints are the soft ones – for example, leadership and culture. So it is opportune that next month we move on to leadership. ■

Dr Tony Grundy is an independent consultant and trainer, and lectures at Henley Business School

This is the fourth article in a series by Tony Grundy on management theories. Due to steps we have taken to streamline our processes, readers in some parts of the world will not have seen the first three articles in the series – Theoretically Speaking, Evaluating Performance and Knowledge-based Theories – but they are all available at www.accaglobal.com/abcpd. Grundy’s series of articles on strategy and economic value added, published in previous editions of Accounting and Business, can also be found here.

TONY GRUNDY ARTICLES ONLINE


www.tonygrundy.com

See Grundy on video at tinyurl.com/q92h7xb

45MANAGEMENT AND STRATEGY | INSIGHT


In last month’s article, I argued that one needs to manage the perception of the finance team’s contribution. This month I address some new areas.

Network within the firmOnly fools believe one’s achievements speak for themselves. Walk about more – encourage the management and financial accountants, accounts payable staff and so forth to spend more time on proactive visits. Spend time adding value to the senior management team by helping them to understand the business. Ways of doing this include:

LOOK A MILLION DOLLARSIf you look a million dollars, then you will feel like a million dollars. Note that most of your organisation’s successful managers actually look successful. Observe them and create a look of ‘success’ that you are comfortable with. Far too often I see corporate accountants apparently proud of how little they spend on their wardrobe. It could be said that quality business attire and a well-groomed appearance are ‘tickets to the game’.

Walking the talkIn his second article on putting finance on the map, David Parmenter extols the virtues of networking with colleagues, and gives some tips on how to prepare for a presentation

1 Aim to have a coffee break with a peer, colleague or stakeholder at least twice a week

2 Send me an email and I will send you a copy of my 25 rules for a good presentation

3 Attend a ‘train the trainers’ course to take your presentations to the next level

4 Read the books featured in this article 5 Observe how the successful people in your

organisation dress and replicate this

NEXT STEPS


www.davidparmenter.com

www.davidparmenter.com/courses

charity, and budget holders donate some small change and enjoy some hospitality at the finance team’s office. You have scored a goal by just organising such an event.

* Ensure that you talk positively to others. Popular people are seldom the fountain of negativity – so learn to keep your negative thoughts private.

* No matter how much pressure you are under, learn to smile whenever someone comes to your desk. This needs plenty of practice as the corporate accountant has more deadlines than most head office staff.

Be great on your feetFar too often the accountant will short-change themselves by ‘under cooking’ their preparation and practice

time before giving a presentation.

Being great on your feet is a skill you need to master in order to be a great corporate

accountant. I will assume that you have attended a presentation skills course, a prerequisite to delivering bulletproof presentations. The speed of delivery, voice levels, use of silence and getting the audience to participate are all techniques that you need to be familiar with and comfortable using.

There are at least 25 rules for a good presentation which I have discussed in my recent book, Winning CFOs: Implementing and Applying Better Practices.

I set out a few for you to consider:1 At least 10 to 20% of

your slides should be high-quality photographs, some of which will not even require a caption.

2 Read Presentation Zen by Garr Reynolds, Slide:ology by Nancy Duarte and Enchantment by Guy Kawasaki.

3 Use Kawasaki’s ‘10/20/30 rule’ for a sales pitch presentation. Have 10 slides that last no more than 20 minutes and ensure all text is no smaller than 30pt in size.

4 Bring theatrics into your presentation, use memorable props, be active and have a bit of fun. This will fully engage your audience.

5 Practise your delivery. The shorter the presentation, the more you need to practise. An important pitch to the board should be practised more than 10 times, for example. ■

David Parmenter is a writer and presenter on measuring, monitoring and managing performance

* Use morning or afternoon break times for networking with budget holders and other stakeholders. See working through a coffee break as a lost opportunity rather than a badge of honour.

* Invite new staff from major subsidiaries or departments to call in when they are next in the head office.

* Consider running events where the finance team organises a coffee break to raise funds for a local

46 INSIGHT | MANAGEMENT AND STRATEGY


The International Accounting Standards Board is revising its conceptual framework and has issued a discussion paper on the issues it is considering in that review. The IASB has had a framework for the preparation and presentation of financial statements since 1989, and is part-way through replacing this with the conceptual framework. This consultation covers the remaining areas.

The framework sets out the important issues underlying the standards, but it is not a standard, and companies do not have to follow it to comply with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS).

Why is the framework important?If there is no standard to cover an issue, then companies can look to the framework among other things to work out what to do. But its main use has been to guide the IASB in developing new or revised standards.

Many see the addition of the ‘conceptual’ tag to the framework as proof that IFRSs are too ‘theoretical’. For others the framework gives consistency and coherence in the standards and that is their best defence against lobby groups on particular issues.

It is hard not to look at the framework without thinking how it impacts current debates over standards and how standards might develop.

The sections on the objectives and characteristics of reporting were recently revised in collaboration with the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB), the US standard setter, but the new sections will be done by the IASB alone.

Definitions of assets and liabilitiesSome aspects of the definition of assets do not seem to be changing significantly – namely, control and the capability to produce future economic benefits. However, the definition of an asset will not include a reference to the probability of those benefits. Nor will this be reflected in a recognition threshold. So when there is only a low probability of

benefit or great uncertainty, then

that will only be reflected in the measurement of the asset or its exclusion on the grounds that the resulting information is not useful. How might this impact the treatment of internally generated goodwill, contingent assets or mineral reserves for example?

On liabilities the framework tries to keep the definition symmetrical with that of an asset, which seems helpful. In deleting probability from the definition and recognition, comparable issues around uncertain and conditional liabilities are raised. Should only unconditional liabilities be included, or ones where there may be conditions but there is no practical ability to avoid them? Or should the

existence of conditions not

affect their recognition? The discussion paper looks at examples from its emissions trading project to illustrate different outcomes from those decisions. Likewise with options – how much should economic compulsion to exercise certain options affect

whether there is a liability or not? This could affect options to extend leases (in the current exposure draft) or redeemable shares with ‘step up’ dividends.

Measurement: fair value or historical cost?This is currently a gap in the framework and the issue is very prominent in much of the debate about IFRS in the light of the financial crisis. The discussion paper indicates that the IASB will continue with a mixed measurement model and identifies three measurement bases:

* cost

* current market prices, including fair value

* cashflow.The decision about when

to use one or another will depend on the relevance »

What lies beneathACCA’s Richard Martin casts a keen eye over the new conceptual framework to see how it impacts current debates over IFRS

47


▌▌▌IF THERE IS NO STANDARD TO COVER AN ISSUE, THEN COMPANIES CAN LOOK TO THE CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK TO WORK OUT WHAT TO DO

CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK | TECHNICAL

and losses should be part of profit or loss and what should go to other comprehensive income (OCI)? Should items that go to OCI be recycled into P&L when realised? Treatments at stake might include cashflow hedging, revaluation of property, actuarial gains and losses on pension liabilities, the new fair value through OCI category in IFRS 9 and changes in discount rates in IAS 37.

The default treatment will be to P&L, but there will be cases where an IFRS could put certain items through OCI. If so, recycling will be expected. The categories of such items might be framed more narrowly as measurement mismatches (for example, between a balance sheet at fair value

of the information to users both in the balance sheet and the income statement. It will also depend on how the asset will be realised or the liability settled and on cost/benefit grounds. It seems difficult to argue with this or see much change in the cost/fair value boundary as a result.

Cashflow-based measures (such as those used for

provisions, pensions and deferred tax) should reflect variations in expected cashflows, time value of money, risk premium (including an entity’s own credit risk in liabilities) and any liquidity effect. Own credit risk is not always recognised (for example, in pension liabilities), nor is the time value of money for deferred tax. So this might imply changes are needed in these standards.

Profit and comprehensive incomeWhat has not changed is that the framework remains driven by assets and liabilities and that equity is the residual difference, and gains and losses represent changes in them.

The other big issue in this project is what gains

and P&L based on cost), or defined more widely to add transitory longer-term remeasurements. Cashflow hedging or the fair value through OCI from IFRS 9 would qualify either way, but many items currently allowed through OCI would only qualify if the IASB goes for the wider definition (such as revaluations, actuarial gains/losses, changes in own credit and designated equities under IFRS 9).

The discussion paper covers a host of other matters, including the concepts of going concern, the business model and the boundary between what are liabilities and what is

treated as equity.

It puts forward six

principles for better disclosures.

Some controversial issues in chapters that have been ‘completed’

are included (see box).

Where now?The consultation on this framework is open until 14 January 2014. It is a chance to consider

fundamental issues in financial reporting that many claim are changing and not

for the better. It is also another battleground to debate the issues in current projects such as leases and financial instruments.

The discussion paper points the way to the resolution of issues where standards are inconsistent. It clearly draws the line under the convergence model with the FASB, even to the extent of inviting comments on the jointly completed sections.

There will probably be an exposure draft of the proposed framework before the final version. But how will it affect IFRS at that point?

The framework will alter the way new and current projects are completed. However, the standards that are inconsistent with the new framework may not be altered right away. Standards like IAS 20 on government grants pre-date and are incompatible with the 1989 framework, but are still in effect today. ■

Richard Martin is ACCA’s head of corporate reporting


A Review of the Conceptual Framework for Financial Reporting can be found at http://tinyurl.com/ma5udq6

48 TECHNICAL | CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK


These concepts from the 1989 framework were dropped in the chapters already completed by the IASB and FASB jointly. The discussion paper reiterates why – prudence and neutrality were considered contradictory. However, Hans Hoogervorst, the IASB chairman, has described the phrase that prudence was caution in the face of uncertainty as ‘pure common sense’. The discussion paper does a better job with reliability, which was replaced by representational faithfulness together with the enhancing characteristic of verifiability. It is most convincing on stewardship, where the word has gone but the concept remains. Indeed, the paper is sprinkled with references to the accountability of management for the resources with which they are entrusted.

PRUDENCE, RELIABILITY AND STEWARDSHIP

IAS 36, Impairment of Assets, describes the procedures that an entity should follow to ensure that it carries its assets at no more than their recoverable amount, which is effectively the higher of the amount to be realised through using or selling the asset. When the carrying amount of asset exceeds the recoverable amount, the asset is considered to be impaired and the entity recognises an impairment loss. Goodwill acquired in a business combination or intangible assets with indefinite useful lives have to be tested for impairment at least on an annual basis. The standard details the circumstances when an impairment loss should be reversed, although this is not possible for goodwill.

For the purposes of impairment testing, goodwill should be allocated to the cash-generating units (CGU) or groups of CGUs benefiting from goodwill. Such group of units should not be larger than an operating segment before aggregation. For any asset, an impairment test has to be carried out at each reporting date if there is any indicator of impairment. IAS 36 gives a list of common indicators of impairment such as increases in market interest rates, market capitalisation falling below net asset carrying value or the economic performance of an asset being worse than projected in internal budgets.

Detailed disclosures, including the circumstances that have led to impairment

are required in relation to each CGU with significant amounts of goodwill and other intangible assets. These include the key assumptions on which management has based cashflow projections, a description of management’s approach to determining the values of each key assumption, terminal growth rates and discount rates as well as sensitivity analysis where a reasonable change in a key assumption would lead to impairment.

Additionally, the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) has recently published

Recoverable Amount Disclosures for Non-Financial Assets (Amendments to IAS 36). These narrow amendments to IAS 36 detail the disclosure of information about the recoverable amount of impaired assets if that amount is based on fair value less costs of disposal. When developing IFRS 13, Fair Value Measurement, the IASB decided to change IAS 36 to require disclosures about the recoverable amount of impaired assets. The recent amendment limits the scope of those

disclosures to the recoverable amount of impaired assets that is based on fair value less costs of disposal. The amendments are to be applied retrospectively for annual periods beginning on or after 1 January 2014 with earlier application permitted.

In January 2013,the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) issued a report on the accounting practices relating to impairment testing of goodwill and other intangible assets. ESMA reviewed the nature

of disclosures in the 2011 IFRS financial statements of a sample of 235 companies with material amounts of goodwill. Similarly, a recent research report by the Centre for Financial Analysis and Reporting Research (CeFARR) at the Cass Business School entitled Accounting for asset impairment: a test for IFRS compliance across Europe reviewed the compliance of European listed companies’ as regards IAS 36. The authors, Hami Amiraslani, George E Iatridis and »

Are you complying?Following research by ESMA, the regulatory bodies are focusing on key aspects of IAS 36, says Graham Holt

▌▌▌COMPLIANCE WITH SOME IMPAIRMENT DISCLOSURE REQUIREMENTS VARIED CONSIDERABLY, SUGGESTING INCONSISTENCY IN THE APPLICATION OF INTERNATIONAL FINANCIAL REPORTING STANDARDS

49IAS 36 | TECHNICAL



regulatory regime. They further conclude that companies operating in a strong regulatory and enforcement setting appear to recognise impairment losses on a timelier basis. These findings could have implications for future investment decisions in terms of lower risk in certain jurisdictions.

In the current economic and financial crisis, assets in many industries are likely to generate lower than expected cashflows with the result that their carrying amount is greater than their recoverable amount with the result that impairment

losses are required. However, ESMA found that the material impairment losses of goodwill reported in 2011 were limited to a small number of companies, and these were mainly in the financial services and telecommunication industries. Overall impairment losses on goodwill in 2011 amounted to only 5% of goodwill recognised in the 2010 IFRS financial statements.

An indication of impairment could be a fall in market capitalisation below the carrying value of equity. An equity/market capitalisation ratio above 100% is one of the external sources of information indicating that assets may be impaired, and should be considered in assessing the realistic values of key assumptions used in impairment testing. ESMA reported that the average equity/

Peter F Pope, investigated the degree of compliance with IFRS by analysing impairment disclosures during 2010/11, relating to non-financial assets within a sample of over 4,000 listed companies from the European Union plus Norway and Switzerland.

The two reports make interesting reading and there is some consistency in their conclusions. The findings of the CeFARR research contextualise the ESMA report. CeFARR found that compliance with some impairment disclosure requirements varied quite considerably

suggesting inconsistency in the application of IFRS. Compliance with impairment disclosure requirements that required greater managerial involvement was less rigorous than those requirements with low effort required. This leads to a tendency to use boilerplate description, which helps reduce the cost of compliance. There appears to be considerable variation across European countries in compliance with some impairment disclosure requirements.

CeFARR found that the quality of impairment reporting is better in companies whose jurisdiction has a strong regulatory and institutional infrastructure. They placed the UK and Ireland in this category. However, impairment disclosures seem to be of lower quality in jurisdictions where there is a weaker

market capitalisation ratio of its sample rose from 100% at 2010 year-end to 145% at 2011 year-end and further, that as at 31 December 2011, 43% of the sample showed a market capitalisation below equity compared to 30% in 2010. Of these entities, 47% recognised impairment losses on goodwill in their 2011 IFRS financial statements.

ESMA feels that the increased equity/market capitalisation ratio and relatively limited impairment losses call into question whether the level of impairment in 2011

appropriately reflects the effects of the financial and economic crisis. As CeFARR found, in many cases the disclosures relating to impairment were of a boilerplate nature and not entity-specific due to a failure to comply with the requirements of the standard and possibly IAS

36 not providing specific enough detail, especially as regards the nature of the sensitivity analysis.

As a result of the ESMA review, they have identified five problem areas:

1 Key assumptions of managementIn the ESMA sample, only 60% of the entities discussed the key assumptions used for cashflow forecasts other than the discount rate and growth rate used in the impairment testing and half of these entities did not provide the relevant entity-specific information.

2 Sensitivity analysisESMA has identified different practices with regard to disclosures on sensitivity analysis. Only half of the entities presented a sensitivity analysis where the book value of their net assets exceeded their market capitalisation. This is a

▌▌▌THE QUALITY OF IMPAIRMENT REPORTING IS BETTER IN COMPANIES WHOSE JURISDICTION HAS A STRONG REGULATORY AND INSTITUTIONAL INFRASTRUCTURE. THE UK AND IRELAND ARE IN THIS CATEGORY

50 TECHNICAL | IAS 36



surprisingly low figure considering that this is an indication of impairment.

3 Determination of recoverable amount‘Value in use’ is used by most entities for goodwill impairment testing purposes and 60% of entities used discounting to calculate ‘fair value less costs to sell’. Thus a significant number of entities estimate the recoverable amount using discounted cashflows. IAS 36 requires different criteria for cashflows when using value in use or fair value less costs to sell to determine the recoverable amount. One would expect that third party information would prevail over entity based assumptions when determining ‘fair value less costs to sell’ in this way.

4 Determination of growth ratesIAS 36 states that for periods beyond those covered by the most recent budgets and forecasts, they should be based on extrapolations using a steady or declining growth rate unless an increasing rate can be justified. ESMA found that more than 15% of issuers disclosed a long-term growth rate above 3% which, given the current economic environment, is optimistic and probably unrealistic.

5 Disclosure of an average discount rateESMA found that 25% of issuers in the sample disclosed an average discount rate, rather than a specific discount rate

on each material cash-generating unit. The applied discount rate has a major impact on the calculation of value in use. Therefore separate discount rates should be disclosed and used which fit the risk profile of each CGU. The disclosure of a single average discount rate for all CGUs obscures relevant information.

As a result of the above, ESMA and the national regulatory authorities are focusing on certain key aspects of IAS 36. The key areas include the application by entities of the rules re impairment testing of goodwill and other intangible assets, the reasonableness of cashflow forecasts,

the key assumptions used in the impairment test and the relevance and appropriateness of the sensitivity analysis provided. ESMA expects issuers and their auditors to consider the findings of their review when preparing and auditing the IFRS financial statements. ESMA also expects national regulatory authorities to take appropriate enforcement actions where needed. ■

Graham Holt is associate dean and head of the accounting, finance and economics department at Manchester Metropolitan University Business School


www.ifrs.org

www.esma.europa.eu

Read the CeFARR report at: http://tinyurl.com/d7aaevm

51IAS 36 | TECHNICAL


The only constant is changeIndirect tax compliance is a top risk area, especially for multinationals which must deal with changing laws in multiple countries. The inherent complexities of indirect tax compliance make it an even bigger concern for global companies.

A few notable trends driving the complexity of the indirect tax process include:

* Limited to fewer than 10 countries in the late 1960s, VAT and GST are today an essential source of revenue for more than 150 countries.

* In the US, businesses had to comply with over 580 indirect tax rate changes in 2012; outside the US, there were over 2,000 tax rate and product taxability changes.

* In the US, 92.3% of the 194 state and local sales tax changes in Q2 2013 represented increases or new taxes.

* The US is currently considering passing the Marketplace Fairness Act to allow states to tax online sales made within their borders, even if the seller physically resides outside the state.

* Brazil regularly implements new tax laws or makes changes to existing laws. A company

According to KPMG’s 2013 Benchmark Survey on VAT/GST, two-thirds of respondents in Europe, the Middle East and Africa and one-third in the rest of the world believe that VAT/GST rates will rise in the next three years as cash-strapped governments continue to rely on indirect tax revenue.

As a result, businesses will have to navigate an even more dynamic indirect tax landscape riddled with tax laws that vary by product type, country, province, state and even city.

The sheer speed and volume of changes to indirect tax and VAT laws (also known as transaction tax, value added tax, GST, and sales and use tax) are impossible to keep up with without some kind of automation. For businesses that have to collect this tax on behalf of government, VAT/GST changes directly impact the operational resources required to achieve compliance.

New or higher taxes will have an obvious impact on the consumer, but the impact on businesses is often overlooked. Whether it’s an increase, a decrease or a brand-new tax, each change represents a significant operational and cashflow outlay for businesses that must implement it. As governments continue to tinker with indirect taxes to address budget shortfalls, a business’s best response is to ensure its indirect tax operations are running as efficiently as possible.

doing business in Brazil routinely has to deal with as many as 10 tax law changes in a given week.

* In emerging markets, indirect tax systems are evolving quickly. India is set to implement a new GST. China is in the process of replacing its business tax on services with broader-based VAT through a series of pilots. Malaysia also has GST on the agenda.

European tangleWhile there is a general trend to increase VAT worldwide, the situation in Europe is not so clear-cut.

Some European states are relying on higher VAT rates. Hungary has the

highest VAT rate in the EU with 27%; Croatia, Sweden, Norway and Denmark are at 25%. In September 2012, Spain hiked its VAT rate from 18% to 21%. And Croatia, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Finland, the Netherlands, Norway, Serbia, and Slovenia have all lifted their VAT rates.

Yet some European countries are bucking the global trend, choosing not to increase VAT and even lowering it to stimulate their economies.

Latvia cut VAT by 1% in July 2012. In summer 2012, France cancelled an increase in its standard rate from 19.6% to 21.2%, although the standard rate is scheduled to increase to

▌▌▌EACH TAX CHANGE REPRESENTS A SIGNIFICANT OPERATIONAL AND CASHFLOW OUTLAY FOR BUSINESSES THAT MUST IMPLEMENT THAT CHANGE

Sales tax snowballsGlobalisation and constant changes to VAT/GST regimes are adding to the tax complexity burden. Charlotte Rushton of Thomson Reuters considers how businesses should respond

INDIRECT TAX COMPLIANCECalculating and determining taxes is not as simple as it might sound. Each transaction has unique characteristics that affect the specific tax rates applied depending on who, what, where, when, why and how the exchange was made. A business can face multiple, overlapping tax-collecting jurisdictions and tangled rules based on the type of business, location, nexus, or where the products and services will ultimately be used.

In the US, for example, the average mid-sized business with a presence in all 50 states needs to file around 5,400 returns and process 5,400 cheques to tax authorities (of which there are over 13,000) a year; that’s 450 returns and 450 cheques a month, or 15 returns and 15 cheques a day. Yet the process can’t be spread out over the month but happens in three required payment periods each month.

52 TECHNICAL | INDIRECT TAX



2013 Benchmark Survey on VAT/GST by KPMG at http://tinyurl.com/kpmgVATsurvey

www.tax.thomsonreuters.com

automation alone isn’t enough, especially if you automate errors.

Tax domain experts provide the multidisciplinary expertise in tax law, tax policy, research and audit to ensure the highest level of service to a business. Smaller businesses especially may lack qualified tax professionals experienced in all the processes required to achieve and maintain the highest degree of compliance and often choose to outsource this function entirely.

Whatever approach a business takes, whether to keep it in-house, outsource it or use a hybrid model, it needs to build a team of tax domain experts that can help the business navigate through changes or growth.

Best practices and best processes ensure that a company can achieve streamlined compliance across the complete tax lifecycle – everything from tax determination and return preparation to rapid reconciliation and preparation of audit reports. As compliance requirements change, a company can automatically be kept up to date.

While every aspect of a company should be optimised, focusing efforts on indirect tax management is increasingly becoming a top priority for savvy finance departments. ■

Charlotte Rushton is managing director Asia Pacific and EMEA for the tax and accounting business of Thomson Reuters

20% in January 2014. Italy continues to delay a 1% VAT rise with the most recent postponement being until October 2013.

Tax best practice Progressive finance departments looking to thrive in the wake of the recession know that an integrated approach, in which their technology, people and processes work seamlessly, is key to optimising their tax management process.

The first step to seamless integration is centralised technology. Consolidating tax management technology across multiple business systems eliminates manual tax determination processes. In addition, it creates a hub from which domain experts can set tax rules and establish corporate tax policies and best practices centrally, automatically disseminating them across the company from a single source. This improves accuracy and reduces workload, providing the company with greater compliance at a lower cost.

Centralised technology effectively automates the tax compliance process for efficiency and should integrate with corporate finance and accounting applications for sales, purchasing, payment processing and resource planning.

Also, with a myriad of software delivery models – from software as a service (SaaS) or on-premise – businesses can now choose whichever model best suits their needs. But

▲ ONE-WAY TRAFFICMost US sales tax changes in Q2 2013 raised rates or levied new taxes

53INDIRECT TAX | TECHNICAL


cross-border tax planning and cash repatriation.

Funding the onshore entityReal-estate business is highly capital intensive and huge funding requirements are normally seen at the initial stage. Compared to equity, debt financing appears to be a more flexible alternative to foreign investment in an onshore real estate project vehicle in terms of future offshore cash repatriation and tax planning.

However, since 2007 foreign investors have not been permitted to push foreign debt down to their local real-estate project companies. Cross-border borrowings cannot be arranged for an onshore real estate vehicle, regardless of whether they are third-party

or shareholders’ loans.Meanwhile, real estate

companies in China are still allowed to borrow onshore. Onshore financing can be arranged to reduce the tax base of the real-estate project entity in China. In structuring intercompany loan for related entities in China, one also needs to observe transfer pricing rules and thin-capitalisation tax rules, introduced during China’s 2008 tax reform. Under these rules, excessive interest expenses may be denied for tax deduction

Real-estate investment in China provides an enormous opportunity for significant capital appreciation and rewarding returns for foreign investors. Yet the regulatory and tax regime governing foreign investment in China’s real-estate sector is extremely complicated. Respectable return on a successful real-estate project in China could be easily wiped out by uncertain or unexpected taxation rules. Robust tax considerations are therefore essential throughout the lifecycle of different types of projects in order to avoid pitfalls.

The purpose of this article is to share the common structure and tax issues and offer our recommendations in navigating the challenges when investing in the real estate sector in China.

Investment structuringSince 2007, China no longer allows foreign investors to use an offshore entity to directly hold real estate. Currently, foreign investors are mandatorily required to set up an onshore vehicle to hold, develop or operate any new real-estate project. As a result, any income generated would be subject to Chinese corporate income tax at 25% in the hands of the onshore vehicle. The use of offshore real-estate holding vehicles to secure a lower 10% withholding corporate income tax rate on income derived from real-estate assets in China is not an option. This has significantly limited the flexibility on

where the intercompany interest rate is seen to be unreasonable as compared to the market rate, or where real-estate companies’ related party debt to equity ratio exceeds 2:1 without reasonable excuse.

Offshore intermediate holding structureForeign investors may consider establishing single or multiple tiers of offshore holding vehicles to hold their investment in onshore real-estate companies. Typically, one of the common reasons for setting up offshore holding structures is to enable foreign investors to have more flexibility to reorganise their interest in the underlying entities in China indirectly through restructuring interest in offshore structures. The

option does not require a direct transfer of equity interest in onshore entities, thus reducing the time and effort to secure various approvals.

Along with the potential restructuring flexibility under an offshore holding structure, the offshore holding entity, if properly arranged, may also allow the foreign investors to access the relevant tax treaty benefits to reduce the Chinese withholding tax on dividend repatriated from the onshore project

company to overseas. The withholding tax rate under corporate income tax law is 10%. Jurisdictions such as Hong Kong, Singapore and Luxembourg have double tax treaties with China that offer a preferential dividend withholding tax rate of 5%.

On the other hand, China’s tax authorities also strictly control the treaty benefit claim. In 2009, circular (2009) no 124 and circular (2009) no 601 were issued to deal with the procedure of treaty benefit claims and the substance test of the beneficial ownerships. The circulars mandatorily require the non-tax resident to obtain approval from the tax authorities when claiming treaty benefits on dividends. Taxpayers would also need to pass the substance test

and to prove ownership and control over dividend income. These requirements not only increase the compliance burden for the taxpayer but also put various uncertainties in practice.

It is worth noting that the tax authorities have taken a cautious step forward to address certain controversial issues regarding beneficial ownership assessment in Public Notice 30. This provides safe-harbour rules for listed companies to claim treaty benefits on dividend. Yet there are

▌▌▌SINCE 2007 FOREIGN INVESTORS HAVE NOT BEEN PERMITTED TO PUSH FOREIGN DEBT DOWN TO THEIR LOCAL CHINA REAL-ESTATE PROJECT COMPANIES

Investing in real estate in ChinaIn the first of a two-part series on China’s burgeoning real-estate market, Matthew Wong and Bill Yuan examine the structures that foreign investors need to be aware of

54 TECHNICAL | INVESTMENT


still various issues and controversies in respect of beneficial ownership assessment. Foreign investors should therefore carefully review their offshore holding structure and plan the strategy ahead.

Meanwhile, China has phased out all the favourable capital gains tax protection provisions in relation to the sale of equity interest in real estate companies in China. Barbados used to have a unique treaty benefit to protect capital gains tax on sale of equity interest in a real-estate company in China, but such benefit has been removed in the renegotiated treaty effective from 2011. There is no longer any treaty-based structure that allows foreign investors to enjoy capital gains tax exemption on the sale of a real-estate project company in China.

Exit structuresExit requires careful planning as it may trigger multiple levels of Chinese taxes for both sellers and buyers. The most straightforward way of exit is the sale of onshore real estate which is one of the common routes in residential development projects targeting a large number of domestic buyers on residual housing units.

This may not be considered as a tax-efficient exit structure since a laundry list of potentially heavy Chinese taxes may be imposed on the seller, namely a 25% corporate income tax; a land value-added tax (LVAT) ranging from 30% to 60% on the net-appreciated value of the property; 5% business tax on the sales price; stamp duty on the transaction documents; and

a 10% withholding tax on dividend repatriation by the onshore project company to distribute the net proceeds to foreign investors.

A further problem may arise on an onshore sale of real-estate asset where the foreign investor previously acquired the project through the purchase of the onshore project company at a huge premium.

The premium previously paid by the foreign investor on the acquisition of the project company in China cannot be used to step up the tax cost base in computing the net taxable amount of the onshore entity’s asset sale for the purpose of corporate income tax, LVAT and business tax. The existing tax rules do not have a mechanism to allow the taxpayer to align this mismatched tax

cost base, thus creating significant tax leakage.

An alternative exit route for foreign investors who intend to dispose of the entire real-estate project in China is the sale of the equity interest in the onshore project entity. This alternative exit structure only exposes the foreign seller to 10% withholding tax on the capital gain and stamp duty on the equity transfer documents. ■

Matthew Wong is tax partner and practice leader at PwC Shanghai. Bill Yuan is director, tax and services, at PwC Shanghai

55INVESTMENT | TECHNICAL


Remote working: is it a panacea?Working from home can boost productivity and the flexibility is a boon, yet there are trust and loyalty issues at play, and employees miss out on face-to-face brainstorming sessions

The trend of working from home (WFH) is not new. For years, this concept where an employee elects to work in a home instead of an office location – mutually agreed to both by management and employee – has been practised in various fields. These include customer service positions, self-employed small businesses, and jobs that constantly require an employee being on the move such as sales and marketing.

WFH first took off in the US, but evidence has shown that WFH is also growing in developing nations in Latin America, Asia and the Middle East. A Reuters report citing an Ipsos/Reuters poll in January 2012 suggested that about one in five workers around the globe, particularly employees in the Middle East, Latin America and Asia, partially work from home frequently and nearly 10% work from home every day.

But while the concept of WFH has had a following, it also brings to focus several negative issues that companies have to contend with, including cases of indiscipline and non-performance of the home worker and abuses of home working privileges.

In March 2013, the WFH concept got a black eye when tech and media giant Yahoo! decided to end its long-implemented WFH programme: it was revealed through a leaked memo that its CEO, Marissa Mayer, ruled that staff could no longer work from home from June 2013, and that employees who work from

home must comply without exception or quit.

Mayer received a barrage of brickbats for her decision, as well as high-profile criticism, from luminaries such as British billionaire Richard Branson to WFH advocacy groups like Working Mother.

So is there a case for WFH? If so what are the factors to consider when implementing a WFH

programme? And are there best practices, given that the world is more globalised yet also decentralised?

According to Sally Raj, country manager of recruitment consultancy Robert Walters Malaysia, working from home is most conducive for independent or individual contributors to an organisation. She says there are some roles that do not require working in teams such as IT support functions or technical support, which can be handled remotely.

'This also works for admin support work such as contract management, financial specialist/service, proposal writing or editorial,' she says. 'Working from home is made easier these days with the advancement of technology, such as cloud storage and data computing.'

Raj says that one of the biggest benefits of a properly administered WFH policy is that IT may not only

improve the productivity of the staff but also innovation gained from certain lines of businesses. 'We agree that working from home can improve productivity. When employees are within the confines of their own comfort, they perform better.

'WFH also means fewer office interruptions, allowing employers to be more focused. However, WFH is not as conducive

to innovation as critical face-to-face interaction with colleagues is cut off, which means fewer brainstorming sessions or idea-generation opportunities.'

On the flip side, Raj says that the disadvantages could include a lack of loyalty to the organisation. She says WFH employees might not feel a sense of belonging, and the absence of a team environment will also cut down social interaction and that professionals working from home may also not be receptive to changes in the company due to the lack of face-to-face communication.

Benefits vs hindrancesMicrosoft Malaysia head of communication Leigh Wong says when the software company rolled out its 'New World of Work' office design concept in Singapore, the results of an employee survey revealed some very encouraging results.

New World of Work allows employees to work anywhere in the office by using a PC, handset, webcam or smartphone – no-one has an assigned desk, and managers do not have private offices.

'Fifty four per cent of employees reported an increase in productivity levels; 49% confirmed they collaborate more with their colleagues and 77% reported an improvement in

their working environment over the previous one.

Additionally, Wong says that, according to a study commissioned by Microsoft and conducted by Vanson Bourne, the impact of flexible working goes far beyond employee satisfaction.

'Seventy three per cent of surveyed workers think their lives would improve if they could work more flexibly, while four in 10 employees said the option of flexible work would influence their decision to accept a new job.'

Similarly, DiGi Telecommunications, a local telecoms operator, notes its mobile working policy, put in place in 2009, has yielded empowerment and flexibility in the way employees pursue their roles. 'Part of being a communications and an internet company means we have the means and the infrastructure to enable our employees to be mobile and work from anywhere,

▌▌▌'TO PREVENT ISOLATION FROM THE REST OF THE BUSINESS WHEN WORKING FROM HOME, ALWAYS KEEP OPEN LINES OF COMMUNICATION WITH MANAGERS'

56 PEOPLE | WORKING FROM HOME


HOW TO WFH SUCCESSFULLYHere are some best practices for Working From Home* (WFH):

* Make appointments: by booking time, you ensure your co-workers will be prepared.

* Stay focused when on conference calls and keep multitasking to a minimum.

* Stay online as much as possible. If you are not online, it is likely that people may think you are not working – even if you are. Respond quickly to email and your colleagues will know you are being productive.

* Establish a schedule. Keep WFH hours similar to those you would keep at an office. Your manager, co-workers and customers appreciate knowing when you are available.

* Be present. Check in with your team regularly throughout the day and be responsive to their questions and comments.

* Focus on objectives. Work with your manager to define clear goals and objectives against which your performance can be measured.

* Tell your team and your boss when you work from home. Enter WFH days into your calendar, so that others do not book physical meetings with you on those days.

*Source: Microsoft Malaysia

including from their homes,' a DiGi spokesperson says in an email response. 'Apart from a few roles which aren’t mobile by nature (for example, core support services), this policy is open to all employees.'

Best practicesStill, the issue of WFH is a tricky one to balance as organisations would need to evaluate if there are sections of the workforce that can be segregated to WFH. Complementing this would be a need for comprehensive guidelines and rules, which both employees and management must agree to.

Robert Walters’ Raj says an organisation needs to set strict guidelines on the dos and don’ts of WFH.

'Even when a WFH policy is practised, there is still the need for WFH employees to regroup weekly or once in two weeks in the office to ensure everyone is informed of the latest developments and policies. Also, to prevent isolation from the rest of the business when working from home, always keep open lines of communication with managers and co-workers.'

Microsoft Malaysia’s Wong concurs and adds that management and employees would need to discuss working styles upfront and keep good communication – whether through online chats, phone calls or email, as the key to successful flexible working is good communication.

'There is a need for all employees to be open and transparent about their whereabouts, what they are doing and where they will be,' Wong explains. 'Make sure they have physical meetings regularly and co-ordinate when they will spend time at the office together. Lastly, take time to check in with each other regularly so they

can keep improving their working relationship.'

As for DiGi, managers are given some latitude as to how they govern WFH within their teams, with the clear understanding that performance and delivery of work is prioritised. 'Additionally,' says the DiGi

spokesperson, 'employees are expected to be available for face-to-face discussions and meetings with colleagues whenever needed, ensure they are always contactable online and offline, and as far as possible proactively plan their time away from the

office with their managers and team members.

'Over and above everything, it is broadly understood that this is a privilege, not a right – and hence it is subject to rules and guidelines.' ■

Edwin Yapp, journalist

57WORKING FROM HOME | PEOPLE


its strategy over the past year, as well as how it intends to do so in the future.

Helen Brand, ACCA chief executive, said: ‘Through ACCA’s integrated report, we are identifying and communicating the value of ACCA as an organisation and through our members.

‘Following feedback from our stakeholders, we have made this year’s report more concise, while improving the quality of disclosure. We have paid more attention to reporting on our business model, our risks and our view of the future outlook for the profession and for ACCA.’

ACCA’s annual report for 2012/13 has been published, using for the second year the International Integrated Reporting Council’s (IIRC) draft framework.

The framework is centred on material information about strategy, governance, performance and prospects that reflect the commercial, social and environmental context within which an organisation operates.

The report focuses on ACCA’s long-term value creation process, providing a comprehensive view of how ACCA created value through

ACCA publishes integrated reportBy focusing on ACCA’s long-term value creation process, the annual report provides a succinct snapshot of exactly how ACCA created value through its strategy last year

CPD KEEPS YOU COMPETITIVE!There are many different learning methods available for you to complete your CPD requirement. A number of flexible and interactive CPD activities can be found online at My Development – www.accaglobal.com/cpd. You’ll find articles, podcasts, webinars, face-to-face courses, research and qualifications which could count as verifiable CPD.

CPD need not be expensive – in fact, it can be free. You could attend the free webinars at our online Accounting for the future conference (14-18 October, www.accaglobal.com/accountingforthefuture) or read the CPD articles in this magazine and complete the multiple-choice questions online. E-learning courses are also available from as little as £30, while our IFRS technical webinars (http://tinyurl.com/p5hyeec) are only £25.

Finally, you may have recently carried out a learning activity and wondered if you can use this as verifiable CPD. If so, you should ask yourself the following: was the learning activity relevant to your career, can you explain how you will apply the learning in the workplace, and can you provide evidence that you undertook the learning activity? If you can answer ‘yes’ to all three questions, then yes, you can!


Read the report at http://annualreport.accaglobal.com

Dr Yang Zhiguo, deputy secretary general of the Chinese Institute of Certified Public Accountants (CICPA), delivered a presentation on listing companies in the USA at an ACCA Beijing roundtable in August.

Yang shared his research findings on stocks of Chinese companies listing on Nasdaq and the New York Stock Exchange, the reasons why many were suspended in 2011 and the impact on the overseas operation of Chinese enterprises as well as on the Chinese accountancy and auditing profession. He also discussed the lessons that Chinese enterprises and auditors should learn.

EVENT FOCUSES ON US MARKET

▲ TALKING POINTJordan Yu, ACCA Beijing head (L) with Dr Yang Zhiguo

58 ACCA | NEWS


AB-Educate Recruitment Pages.indd 1 14/01/2013 15:26

always be available to current investors.

By coincidence, the objective of IR also broadly matches up with action taken by the Chinese regulators to deal with a rash of accounting frauds that has damaged the reputation of corporate China.

Lin Yongfeng, director of the company management department at Shanghai Stock Exchange and a keynote speaker at the Shanghai roundtable, listed anti-fraud measures taken by the Chinese regulators that were in the spirit of the IR ethos. He added that the latest revision of the rules for listed company financial reporting dealt with the disclosure of non-financial information.

‘We also require companies to disclose their business model, such as how it makes money and how it creates value for its stakeholders,’ Lin said.

At the Shenzhen roundtable, a senior representative of the Shenzhen Stock Exchange said that guidelines for industry-specific disclosures of non-financial information had been implemented for companies listed on the exchange in the film/entertainment

China stands to be a big benefactor from the creation of a framework for integrated reporting (IR). The new global standard for corporate reporting aims to bring together all material information about a listed company’s strategy, governance, performance and prospects so that it duly reflects the commercial, environmental and social contexts in which the business works.

Perhaps in recognition of this, a near unanimous consensus emerged from three roundtables hosted in June by ACCA and the International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC) in the three major Chinese cities of Shenzhen, Beijing and Shanghai.

The events gathered in one room the stakeholders of diverse interests, from the executives of companies, big and small, investors, auditors, accountants and regulators, to academics and financial professionals.

ConsensusIn general, the roundtable attendees subscribed to the IR concept of the six capitals in facilitating a comprehensive review of a company’s value-creating capability, and reporting on the business model as a way of forcing management to confront and address deficiencies and issues that may have been hidden in the past.

Participants also appreciated the insights of short, medium and long-term benefit provided by IR that may not

Integrate to accumulateThe corporate benefits – and challenges – of integrated reporting are well understood in China, as a recent series of roundtables, organised by ACCA and IIRC, have shown

and pharma sectors. The objective is to enhance the relevance and usefulness of information disclosures for investors.

Yang Zhiguo, deputy secretary general of the Chinese Institute of Certified Public Accountants (CICPA), the guest of honour at the Beijing roundtable, said that IR not only reveals a company’s historical information, but also forward-looking information about a company’s development and its ability to create and sustain value. This helps to promote the sustainability of the global economy.

However, several challenges have to be overcome if IR is to be successful in China. First and foremost is the mindset of investors, as well as that of the management team and their accountants.

The challengesListed Chinese companies, like their counterparts elsewhere, are eager to woo investors, but not all investors take a long-term view. They may be preoccupied with financial results, and be unaware of business model analysis or the concept of the six capitals.

The IIRC promotes a market-driven approach, so a lack of motivated investors may present an obvious hurdle to widespread adoption. ‘If you want to make a change with IR, we have to change the mindset of these investors,’ said Li Xing-liang, financial controller of AccuService in Shanghai.

Many at the roundtable were also worried about management’s commitment to making IR a meaningful process. Ingrained corporate culture in China often has

62 ACCA | INTEGRATED REPORTING


little time for voluntary disclosure. On the other hand, if IR were to be made a legal requirement, it might tempt companies not to share any information beyond what is considered safe. It’s a problem Chinese regulators have already encountered in the mandatory disclosure of non-financial information.

Roundtable participants suggested that even if management were serious during the first round of exercise, it could become lax in subsequent rounds and not back up its IR disclosures with substance or reliable data.

The three roundtables recommended adopting a mixed approach to IR,

tax and accounting policy at DBS Bank, stressed that first of all management has to be able to agree on the basic principles enshrined in integrated reporting. DBS, the largest bank in South East Asia, set an example by becoming the first company in the region to join the IR pilot programme.

‘This is not just a new reporting system but also involves a change in mindset,’ Larsen said, as the work required ranges from how best to disclose the most relevant key performance indicators and design the whole process, to how to implement the measurement and evaluate the success of an integrated report.

DBS is the sixth-largest

have the time or money to ponder the broader structural issues confronting them.

Big Chinese enterprises have already demonstrated their ability in the release of the audited internal control reports they are legally required to publish, even though such reports were criticised for being little more than symbolically compliant.

Many are also required to publish corporate social responsibility reports, certified by a third party independent of auditors, and of company financial reports. In 2012, 596 listed companies published a social responsibility report.

There’s also a widespread anxiety about how to verify non-financial information

and authenticate all or part of the information, and to ensure consistency.

Larsen said: ‘When I adopt a key performance indicator, I’ll need to follow it up, and not replace it with something else, even if other people in the industry do not do it this way. You’ll have to be able to maintain consistency, while improving on it every year.’

The draft IR framework makes it clear that not all

capitals will need to be quantified for IR purposes. The view was that some quantification will help to track the key performance indicators and performance (over time) of a company, and will be helpful for comparison purposes with the company’s peers. The roundtable participants called for more guidelines to help promote consistency and comparability.

Too close to the edgeMore broadly, Chinese companies, just like their Western counterparts, face two common problems when disclosing forward-looking information: the fear of losing competitive edge and the threat of legal ramifications.

The business environment in China is so competitive that companies always make the minimal disclosure that is legally required, and do not share too much for fear of handing secrets over to potential competitors.

In explaining the basic principles for disclosing the business model, IIRC CEO Paul Druckman said a solution could be to lean more on the strategic aspect than core competence.

IIRC can help to address the concern by clarifying the extent to which such information is expected to be disclosed, as well as offer more guidance on what would typically be disclosed – eg key performance indicators on the different capitals that companies in each sector would be expected to report on. ■

Shu-Ching Jean Chen, journalist

▌▌▌‘THIS IS NOT JUST A NEW REPORTING SYSTEM BUT ALSO INVOLVES A CHANGE IN MINDSET’

making it part-compulsory and part-voluntary.

Meng Xiangyun, chief accountant of state-owned Baosteel Group, China’s largest steelmaker, suggested that making IR disclosure compulsory at the early stage would give companies an external incentive to produce an IR, and complement it with a long-term approach of having either assurance by a neutral independent agency or through training forums at IIRC. Without assurance, it could be hard for Chinese companies to ensure credibility and consistency, especially during the volatile transition to a new management, she said.

Indeed, Mikkel Larsen, managing director of group

foreign bank in China, with 2,000 staff and RMB100bn in assets.

State enterprisesChina’s state-dominated economy also poses a particular issue for IR. Most listed companies in China are state-owned enterprises, and roundtable participants were curious whether the concepts within the draft IR framework are equally relevant for them.

Conversely, Chinese state-owned enterprises possess multiple advantages over their smaller private counterparts if they wish to commit to IR, having the necessary scale, financial wherewithal and resource capacity. Most small and medium enterprises may not


For more on ACCA’s Asia-Pacific consultation on the integrated reporting framework, go to:

www.accaglobal.com/ab18

63INTEGRATED REPORTING | ACCA


Of course, these three classes overlap. There are about 305 companies altogether that must disclose social responsibility reports. In 2012, 379 companies did so (those that had to, plus 74 that provided one voluntarily). Those 379 companies account for about 40% of the SSE’s capitalisation. About 70% of them are state-owned; the rest are private enterprises.

In China, then, we already have a basis for further convergence with international integrated reporting, whether from the perspective of disclosure of non-financial information or the social responsibility report.

Non-financial disclosuresThere are some trends in the disclosure of regular reports for enterprises listed on the Shenzhen and Shanghai Stock Exchanges, as follows.

The main focus has shifted from financial to non-financial information; we also integrate the social responsibility report and the internal control report into the annual report, providing detailed disclosure.

We have also made great progress in the adequacy of information disclosure. Today, PDF files published online often contain 100 or 200 pages, which brings another problem – that of important information being submerged in a flood of trivia. Our next step should be to move from the principle of adequacy to that of importance.

Since China converged with international accounting standards in 2007, our accounting language has become increasingly aligned with the international one; the same is true of our corporate reporting.

The regulator is now paying more attention to the ‘management discussion and analysis’ section of the annual report. Management discussion and analysis is non-financial information and embedded in the annual report. Last year’s revision to the China rules for compiling annual reports requires more disclosure of such information.

For example, a company must disclose its output, sales, inventory, market share, orders and so on in its annual report. We also encourage companies to disclose the names and sales volume of their top five customers and suppliers, their R&D investments and the latest advances. This is in line with international practice for integrated reporting and helps investors to make judgments about the future.

The Shanghai Stock Exchange (SSE) requires three classes of company to publish social responsibility reports. One class is the constituents of the SSE’s Corporate Governance Index – each year we choose the stocks for this index and this year have selected 301. The second class are the financial stocks on the SSE – there are about 31 of them. The third class are companies with multiple listings – we have 67 of them.

Between the linesFirms in China are starting to embrace the importance of integrated reporting, and the regulators are in agreement, says Shanghai Stock Exchange’s Lin Yongfeng

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We used to put great emphasis on the disclosure of historical information. The accounting information in the annual report primarily reflects the past. But investors need to judge the future of the business, so we encourage listed companies to disclose more forward-looking information in the management discussion and analysis.

Most of the information previously disclosed was general, without any detailed disclosure targeting a specific industry except for banking and real estate. What we are going to do is ask listed companies to

disclose voluntarily more individualised information.

Currently, annual reports are regulator-oriented. In the future, we will be more investor-oriented, providing more information to help investors with their decision-making. We can provide the information that the regulator needs through other channels, further separating public information from that for the regulators.

Social responsibilityIn 2008 the SSE started advocating the disclosure

of social responsibility reports by listed companies. We selected some key enterprises as pilots, asking the three types of companies to give social responsibility reports. We also required them to include a quantitative index in their social responsibility reports – ie the social contribution per share.

Currently, earnings per share reflects the value the company creates for its shareholders. We now require listed companies to add items such as the interest on capital paid to creditors, tax paid, wages for workers, donations to

society, etc. All this lets us calculate the social contribution per share, and we encourage enterprises to engage a third party to review the results of calculation.

In 2009, we clarified the disclosure requirements for annual reports, and provided a template for social responsibility reports along with a template for board directors reviewing those reports.

In our 2009 annual report notice, we made it clear that the social responsibility report is no longer an

annex to the annual report, but a separate report accompanying it. We also required listed companies to strengthen communication with their stakeholders through a social responsibility report.

We have also strengthened the analysis and summary. Every year, the SSE issues an analysis of the annual reports of listed companies – this is the fifth year.

Macro approachThe international framework of integrated reporting takes a macro perspective to analyse issues. It

considers not only the company’s strategic focus and future orientation, but also the communication of information and stakeholders’ ability to respond, stressing the importance, simplicity, reliability, completeness, consistency and comparability of the report. It’s consistent in logic and takes a strategic perspective. In particular, it introduces a broad concept of capital.

Some of the disclosure requirements of international integrated

reporting are the same as those in our newest revision. For example, we now also require companies to disclose their business model – how you make money and how you create value for your stakeholders.

The China Securities Regulatory Commission has identified some companies with corporate accounting mechanism frauds during its inspections. So the disclosure of profit model and business model is of great significance for our next step of preventing accounting frauds.

What inspires me most is that international integrated reporting includes the disclosure of the opportunities and risks for the company. This is what we will improve on, in particular, the disclosure of risks. The report framework also includes how to establish a risk disclosure and self-assessment mechanism in combination with the company’s internal controls, and how to shift from the qualitative disclosure of risks to a detailed and quantitative one. Those are the issues we are now thinking about. ■

Lin Yongfeng is director of company management at the Shanghai Stock Exchange. This article is an extract from a speech he gave to the integrated reporting framework consultation roundtable in Shanghai

▌▌▌WE NOW ALSO REQUIRE COMPANIES TO DISCLOSE THEIR BUSINESS MODEL – HOW YOU MAKE MONEY AND HOW YOU CREATE VALUE FOR YOUR STAKEHOLDERS

65INTEGRATED REPORTING | ACCA


ACCA conference

ACCA’s annual online conference, Accounting for the future, will be held on 14-18 October. The free, five-day event brings together finance professionals from around the world to discuss the challenges and opportunities facing the finance profession now and in the future.

Using a range of live webcasts and videos, finance leaders and experts will share the latest insights on how businesses and the corporate sector can maximise the value they deliver.

This year’s topics include risk management, corporate culture, reporting for investors, finance transformation, the role of the CFO, future career

pathways, technology trends and SME growth.

Those registering for the event will gain exclusive access to online practical sessions that can contribute towards their verifiable CPD. All the conference content

will also be made available on demand.

Last year more than 16,000 people registered for the conference.

To register or find out more visit www.accaglobal.com/accountingforthefuture

Members are invited to join ACCA’s annual online conference to discuss current and future challenges facing finance professionals

INSIDE ACCA66 Online conference Free five-day event

62 Integrated reporting Roundtable highlights; SSE’s Lin Yongfeng

58 CPD

58 News

22 ACCA president

ACCA’s AGM, held on 19 September, will be covered in the next edition

ABOUT ACCAACCA is the global body for professional accountants. We aim to offer business-relevant, first-choice qualifications to people of application, ability and ambition around the world who seek a rewarding career in accountancy, finance and management. We support our 162,000 members and 428,000 students throughout their careers, providing services through a network of 89 offices and active centres. www.accaglobal.com

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▲ SOUND AND VISIONContent will also be available on demand to those registering

NEW ACCOUNTANCY FUTURES JOURNALThe latest edition of ACCA’s research and insights journal Accountancy Futures is now available online and for iPad download.

Interviewees include British Airways CEO Keith Williams on moving from the CFO role into the top job, and Shell accounting chief Paul Morshuis on how layer upon layer of regulation is affecting the role of finance professionals.

Former Canadian prime minister Paul Martin talks about the benefits for communities of good financial practice, while Infosys veteran TV Mohandas Pai talks about the growth of the accountancy profession in India.

Other issues covered include integrated reporting, SMEs, audit, finance functions, sustainability, the public sector, public value and economic developments.

Read or download the journal at www.accaglobal.com/futuresjournal

7,700Number of ACCA students successfully

completing their final exams in June 2013 – a record figure.

CAPITAL HILL INVESTING IN REAL ESTATE IN CHINAOPINION CHINA’S HOMEGROWN TALENT IN DEMANDPEOPLE PROS AND PITFALLS OF TELECOMMUTINGTECHNICAL IMPAIRMENT OF ASSETS

TEAM PLAYER NEUSOFT’S CFO ON THE STRENGTH OF FINANCE

SPONSORSHIP THE BIG FOUR DELVE INTO THE ARTSDIGITAL IQ THE POWER OF TECHNOLOGY

MINING DISCLOSURES ON CONFLICT MINERALS

THE MAGAZINE FOR FINANCE PROFESSIONALS ACCOUNTING AND BUSINESS CHINA 10/2013CN ABCPDGet verifiable cpd units by reading technical articles

YUAN PROSPECTSCHINA’S CURRENCY AT INTERNATIONAL CROSSROADS

TIPPING THE BALANCE

SUPPORT RUNS HIGH FOR INTEGRATED REPORTING

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AB China – October 2013